Pirates of the Caribbean:Curse of the Black Pearl
by LittleVampirateXX
Summary: Isabel Norrington is the Commodore's sister and this is her account of Pirates 1. When Izzy defies her brother and goes with Will to rescue Elizabeth she meets some unlikely allies and ends up having more fun than even she thought was possible.DMC now up!
1. Prologue

_To whom it may concern,_

_Every story has a beginning and every story has an end. Yours and mine are no different. In fact, at first glance they will seem a lot more similar that you might think. You could say that they started the same way –in the beginning we are all born. _

_However, I don't believe this. I believe that your story only really starts when you start living your life. You may not know it, God knows I didn't, but until we live by our own rules and bide by our own conscious we are not living. Not really. Yes, our heart beat, but do they have anyone or anything to beat for? We breathe, but what are we taking in with every breath? Air or life itself? It is only when you stop playing it safe, when you can feel the pain that's enough to kill you and live through it- when you are free, truly free to make your own choices, your own mistakes, can you really say you're living._

_Everyone has a story and this is mine._

_ Love,_

_Isabel Norrington_


	2. The Medallion

"Isabel" James called, banging on my door. My heart spun over with a mixture of fear and guilt. I snapped my book shut and stuffed it in my bag. If he caught my reading when I was meant to be out of the house ten minuets ago he'd go ballistic… not that that would have made any real change. He was always going ballistic these days. The door opened and James walked in, bag slung over one shoulder. I stood up and picked up my own bag. James's eyes were cold and hard they way they always were when he was angry, "What have you been doing? We are going to be late! I've a good mind to leave you behind!"

"No, James! You wouldn't!" I cried out, my eyes filling up with tears. For a brief moment the look on his face made me panic. "Would you?"

His face softened just a little. "Of course not!" he smiled, his eyes twinkled as the stoniness faded away, "You're my sister."

I gave him a hug and ran to fetch my coat. With my bag and coat I was now ready to leave. My toes started tingling with excitement and soon the feeling spread to the rest of my body. It welled up inside me as I thought about the journey ahead and all the exciting adventures I was sure to have in Port Royal. Adventures just like the one I had been reading about. But even books can not prepare you for what is out there in the real world and even I would never have guessed just how exciting my adventures were going to be...

I took one last look at my bedroom and felt an odd twinge in the pit of my stomach. I closed the door on my pain. It was all in the past and the future was set to be brighter. I charged down the marble staircase after my brother. I slipped my hand into his and together James and I walked out of the house. We didn't turn to look at the house we were leaving behind. We had spent far too long looking back at the past and how things used to be that I had almost forgotten that there was a different direction than back. Looking forwards now, into our future was what we planned to do and it felt good. Like nothing could hurt us again. There were no tears as we climbed into the waiting carriage. Not even from me. I had cried myself out these past two years and today James and I vowed was to be a happy day. This was why I was full of hope. I bounced around on my seat next to James and chattered to him about the journey to come. We travelled for about an hour when James, who had been silently listening to my consistent chatter but probably not taking it in, turned to me.

"Isabel, look out of the window, we should be near the sea now." He said. I leaped up. My first glimpse of the sea! I gazed out of the window at the vast expanse of blue that lay behind a tall London house. It glittered like a jewel and seemed to reflect the sky above. It was then I knew I loved the sea.

"When I grow up I want to be a sailor just like you." I sighed happily as I nested back down in my seat, felling contented for once at the thought of my future. James chuckled and the sound made me frown. Why was he laughing at me?

"Now, Izzy, you know you can't. Woman can't be sailors." He said. I scowled at him. Yet another thing to add to the infinite list of Things Women Can't Do. It seemed to me that we couldn't do anything fun.

A thought crossed my mind. A dangerous one that could get me in trouble if I said it a loud, but my anger at being laughed at let it slip. "You get woman pirates!"

As I had expected this did not go down well. James glared at me. He gave a shout so loud that I jumped out of my seat and the driver of the carriage got such a fright that the carriage stopped suddenly, screeching to a halt.

"On no account are you to become one of _them _Isabel! Do not _dare _toeven _think _about it!" Have I not told you a thousand times the dangers of piracy? It is my job to see that every last one of the vile, desolate creatures is killed and my own little sister contemplating becoming one!"

"James! I… I did not mean I wanted to be a pirate! I was just saying that you get female p…p…pirates!" I sobbed. I had never _seen_ James so angry. His face had flushed a deep red and his eyes burned with a livid anger. It scared me, but the thought of pirates scared me more. Back then I never wanted to be one, but I thought it would be exciting to see a one from a safe distance. Like a caged animal. James was right they were vile, and I didn't know what 'desolate' meant, but I was sure it wasn't good. I sniffed, "I'm sorry James. I didn't mean-"

"I know," James said relaxing a little, "you would never _dream _of being a pirate, would you?"

I shook my head. The carriage slowed to a gentler stop. James stepped out and I followed. He still looked angry, so I slipped my hand into his. He smiled down at me He was wearing his uniform and under his hat there was the brown wig that all Lieutenants wear. I thought it was stupid he had to wear a wig, considering he is not bald, but according to him it is 'all part of the uniform'. He complained about it a lot, but I thought that he secretly liked it because it made him feel important. People often said that we looked alike even though James was eight years older that I. I was glad they said it, despite all my pretences I did love him an awful lot.

The salty sea air tasted strange on my lips. I licked them and smiled at the tangy feeling on my tongue. Gulls crowed above my head, shouting to each other mid-swoop. The waves slapped against the hulls of the ships moored in the harbour in a rhythm that seemed to match my heartbeat. I liked this place.

"Which one is yours?" I asked, squinting up at the huge ships and their tall masts that towered high above me, reaching up towards the sky.

"None of them are mine, Izzy, I am not a Captain. I am a Lieutenant." James corrected me. I sighed.

"Fine, which is the ship the one we are taking?"

He did not answer at first and we continued walking along the docks. The James stopped, "This one."

I looked up at the huge, grand ship and marvelled at how tall it was and how much it dwarfed me. The gangplank was lowered and at the top of it stood a golden haired girl in a light blue dress.

"Elizabeth!" I shouted letting go of James's hand and running up the gangplank towards her. She smiled at me, my excitement mirrored in her light brown eyes. I was slightly taller than her, but we were the same age.

"Hello Isabel." She greeted. I grinned. Elizabeth was one of my closest friends I'd known her for years. She and I lived next door to one another and our parents had been friends. Her mother was dead, but her father looked after her now. He was about to become Governor of Port Royal, Jamaica. Both James and Mr Swann had decided that starting a new life in the Caribbean would be best for us all. Our families had always been close, but the absence of Mrs Swann and mine and James's parents had brought us closer still. We never spoke of the deaths, having all come to an unspoken agreement not to mention them. I didn't know whether not talking about them was healthy or not. I knew that I probably should, but the truth was I didn't want to. It was too hard.

"Ahh, Isabel! James!" Mr Swann called. "Good to see you!"

"Good day Mr Swann!" I smiled politely. He put a hand on my head and ruffled my hair which was annoying, but I was in far too good a mood to let it bother me, and far too scared of making Mr Swann cross. I'd seen him cross at Elizabeth before and it was very scary. He had a tendency to spit as well. He left us to speak to James and I turned back to Elizabeth.

"Are you excited?" Elizabeth asked.

"Very!" I grinned. "Are you?"

"I can't wait! This is going to be so exciting!"

"I know! Do you think-" I began but was interrupted.

"Isabel, come and get your bag! I am not your slave!" shouted James

"Sorry," I said meekly and ran to get my bag from him. He smiled and ruffled my hair. I was still in a good mood, but I was not too scared to shout at James. "Don't do that!" I moaned. "I am not your dog!"

"Sorry!" he grinned.

"Speaking of dogs," I glanced sideways at him, "can we get one?"

"No."

"Oh… _please_!"

"No!" James smiled and ruffled my hair again.

"Don't do that!" I grumbled, punching him playfully on the arm. He laughed.

"You punch like a girl!"

"I am a girl!" I huffed. We went to unpack our things. The ship began to move and James had to go to work. Elizabeth and I watched England slowly shrink. What had once seemed like the biggest place in the whole world was nothing but a tiny, green speck on the horizon. I loved being at sea and I stayed on deck for as long as possible. I wanted to help, but of course it was not my place, so I watched everyone very carefully to see how it was done. It was only after dinner that things began to get exciting. Fog swirled around the ship hiding everything from us. It suddenly became very cold, but Elizabeth and I were back on deck, determined not to miss a thing. I glanced around. There didn't seem to be many people about.

"Do you think we will see any pirates?" I asked in hushed tones.

"I hope not!" Elizabeth shuddered.

"It would be exiting." I said. "Just to see one"

Elizabeth nodded and chewed on her lip, "Maybe we'll see a hanging in Port Royal."

Somehow, this didn't excite me as much as I thought it might have and by her tones I guessed she felt the same lack of enthusiasm. We both looked out to sea. "Do you remember that pirate song?" she asked.

"Yes!" I said and we both began to sing softly and slowly. Then, as we grew more confident we got louder and I felt something like excitement swell inside me. "We pillage, we plunder, we rifle, we loot, drink up me hearties yo ho! Yo ho, yo ho a pirate's life for me! Yo ho, yo ho, a pirate's life-"

Suddenly we broke off as a hand grabbed us. My heart jumped into the back of my throat and we whipped round. "Quite!" Mr Gibbs, the old sailor who stood behind us snarled, "Cursed pirates sail these waters! You don't want to bring them down on us now do you?"

My heart was still hammering in my chest. So loudly I was sure that those cursed pirates would hear it and try to stop it beating. "That will do, Mr Gibbs!" James's voice snapped.

"But they were singin' about pirates," Protested Gibbs, "bad luck to sing about pirates with us mired in this unnatural fog… you mark my words."

"Consider them marked." James said. "Now, be on your way."

"Aye," Gibbs left muttering to himself. He seemed to mutter to himself an awful lot.

"Explain yourself Isabel!" James snarled.

"Well-" I broke off.

"It was not just her!" said Elizabeth, leaping to my defence. That was why I liked her, she was always so loyal. "We both think it would be exiting to meet a pirate!"

"Well think again, Miss Swann. Vile, desolate creatures, the lot of them. I intend to see that every man who sails under a pirate flag gets what he deserves" James looked at us "a short drop and a sudden stop." He looked smugly out to sea. I couldn't decide whether it was because of what he had just said was supposed to be funny or because he knew we wouldn't understand. We looked to Mr Gibbs for help. He mimed being hung. We gasped. My neck felt heavy and tight at the thought of a noose.

"Pardon me, James, but I am concerned about the effect this conversation is having on my daughter." Mr Swann said, appearing on deck. He was speaking a little formally now that we were aboard the ship and James was on-duty.

"Actually, I find it all fascinating," Elizabeth assured him.

"Yes, that is what concerns me," said her father. He fell into conversation with James. Elizabeth and I moved closer to the rail

"Look!" Elizabeth gasped, pointing into the dark waters. A parasol floated slowly past we frowned at it.

"I wonder where it came from," I said, but Elizabeth was no longer listening, se had spotted something more interesting in the water.

"Look! Look! There is boy! There is a boy in the water!" she shrieked. James and Mr Swann heard her and James, being his usual bossy self began shouting at everyone to get the body out of the water. The boy was floating on a thick plank of wood. The crew managed to haul him out of the water.

"He's still breathing." James announced as he put the boy down on the deck.

"Elizabeth! Isabel!" Mr Swann called. "He will be in your charge."

We nodded and made our way over to the unconscious body. We knelt down beside him. Elizabeth slowly reached out a hand and brushed the boy's hair from his face. Suddenly he gasped back to life and sat up grabbing her arm and staring at us with wild eyes. I jumped back. "It's alright." Elizabeth told him as we recovered from the fright we had got when he sat up so quickly. "My name is Elizabeth Swann and this is my friend, Isabel Norrington."

"William Turner," the boy panted heavily.

"We are watching over you Will." Elizabeth said as William sank down into unconsciousness again.

"Look," I whispered pointing at a chain the boy wore around his neck and on the chain hung a pirate medallion.

"He is a pirate!" Elizabeth whispered. I reached out and gently pulled the chain off his neck. She gasped, "What are you doing? That is not yours!"

"I know, but if my brother finds out then William Turner will face a short drop and a sudden stop." I said grimly. It was not a nice sentence to say, but I was sort of proud I'd turned what James had said to illustrate what I meant. I ran my thumb over the medallion, feeling the bumps in the pattern and the detailing of the skull, its empty eyes, nose and mouth.

"Has he said anything?" James's voice made me jump. We turned to face him. Elizabeth pushed my hands behind my back and I kept the medallion hidden there.

"His name is William Turner. That is all we have found out."

"Very good," said James and he looked as if he was about to say something more, but our attention was drawn to a sudden commotion among the crew. They were all crowded around the starboard side. We ran to join them. There in the water was the burning wreck of a ship.

"Mary mother of God!" breathed Gibbs.

"I know that ship!" James said. "It has the most guns of any ship in the Navy!"

"Aye," muttered Gibbs sarcastically, "and a lot of good it did them too. Everyone's thinkin' to I'm just sayin' it. `Twas pirates!"

At the mention of the creatures everyone grew silent and stared as we slowly sailed past the blackened, burning ruin of a ship. It annoyed me how James always referred to them as "creatures" and as if they were not humans, but monsters. I suppose as my twelve-year-old self watched the ship burn with growing fascination and horror that I did, at that moment think of prates as monsters. How could one human being do that to another? I suppose they really weren't human. My shivers and trembling hands had very little to do with the cold. I turned around and faced the opposite direction, secretly hoping to see the ship that had caused the wreckage. The fog was thicker than ever before, and sailing away from us was a ship. She flew no colours, unless you count black as a colour. The entire ship was inky black, blacker even than the night sky. The sky was grey in comparison. The sails were ragged and torn, with huge holes in them. I wondered how on earth it could sail properly. Elizabeth was the only one who had notice my distraction and I heard her inhale sharply. I lifted the medallion and looked from it to the ship and back again.

"Did we do that?" whispered Elizabeth, voicing what I was thinking.

"How could we?" I hissed back. I couldn't bear it if that were true, but Gibbs's words echoed in my head. Had we brought cursed pirates down on us… or on someone else?

"The song," She replied even though I knew the answer. We watched the black ship move further away and soon it had melted into the darkness. The fog wrapped around it like a guard and hid it from view. Soon enough it disappeared with it. We were the only ones that noticed. In the eight years that followed we told no-one. Not even Will. Maybe we should have, it was after all his medallion, but we were scared if he knew the truth he would suddenly and dramatically turn into a vicious monster. We could come to no agreement about who was to keep the medallion, so we shared it and were always careful to keep it well hidden. Time passed and we never spoke of the ship with inky black sails, but we never forgot it. It was our secret, something we shared, but never talked about. I did wonder if over the years my imagination had changed what I saw to fit with the rumours. Stories about a ship with black sails. But stories like that couldn't really but true… could they? I thought that would be the first and last time I saw it, but I was wrong. Very wrong.


	3. Before the Ceremony

The needle bit in to my skin and I inhaled sharply to stop myself saying anything regrettable. I lifted my thumb to my face to look at the tiny, bleeding hole. The blood was a reminder to stay focused on the task at hand. This was not something I was very good at. The world just seemed a lot more interesting in my head.

"Isabel?" I turned as James entered, shaking my hand to dry the blood. He looked a bit nervous, but I suppose he had every right to be.

"Yes, Commodore?" I grinned and relished his sigh.

"Oh, stop it Izzy!" He moaned and I gave him my most angelic smile. "I've had to put up with you all week! And I'm not even a Commodore yet!"

"I'm sorry, James, but 'Commodore Norrington' sounds so odd!" I laughed. He, quite predictably, got on his high horse about that.

"Well, I think it has a certain ring to it," he said haughtily.

I tutted slightly and looked at him in mock disapproval. "Don't let your promotion go to your head James; you know my teasing is the only thing that keeps you sane!" He rolled his eyes and said nothing more. I assumed the conversation was over and went back to sewing. It was stupid and tiresome work and I hated it, but James was insistent I did it. I hate him sometimes. He has such stupid ideas. It was his fault I had had to look after myself when he was at sea and so was not yet completely ready for being a lady. There had been people there to make sure I was clothed and fed, but they always seemed to be more watchful and more concerned with my manners when James was home. When he was away I noted that they let things slide. Another almost mishap with the needle reminded me to concentrate. It took me a couple of minutes to notice that James was still standing there, looking nervous and uncharacteristically serious. I put down my needle and thread, giving him my full attention. "James, what did you really come here to say?"

There was a silence. I waited and James stared at the floor and shuffled his feet, before looking up suddenly into my eyes, "Izzy, would you mind awfully if I asked for Elizabeth's hand in marriage?"

I think my heart stopped for a second to give my brain a chance to digest this. "Mind?" I cried, "Of course I would mind! She is my best friend and you are my BROTHER. And anyway I'm pretty sure she-" I broke off as James looked at the floor again and realization slapped me. "That was not one of those questions where my opinion actually counts is it? You have already decided. You just asked to be polite."

"Pretty much, yes." he nodded.

"Do I have a say in the matter?" I raised an eyebrow.

"No. You don't and I don't really see how it concerns you." True enough, I suppose, but it feels like it should concern me. James is my brother and Elizabeth's the sister I never had. It just feels wrong.

"Well, at least tell me when you are planning on proposing!"

He pause, wrestling with whether to tell me or not. "Today, after the ceremony," James said eventually. I sighed, that didn't give me much time at all.

"You could have told me earlier!" I huffed, avoiding his plea for me not to tell Elizabeth.

"No, you cannot keep a secret." He said. I turned back around and smiled to myself as I felt the medallion cold against my skin. How wrong he was. It was years since we'd seen the pirate ship, but we still had the medallion. Nobody knew about it. Not even Will. He should have changed it to 'You cannot keep a secret _from Elizabeth_'. That would have been slightly truer. "I will see you at the ceremony, Isabel, I am leaving now."

I said nothing and kept up a haughty silence. His statement seemed to hang in the air. I heard him sigh sadly. I turned around and stood up. "Good luck James." I said giving him a quick hug.

"Thank you." He called over his shoulder as he left. The door shut behind him and I sank into my chair. What was I going to do? I was almost certain Elizabeth did not feel the same way about James as he did about her. Unless I had seriously misjudged my best friend's signals. I had to warn her… I had to, it was my role as a good friend. But what about my role as a good sister? It could break James's heart. And although he annoyed me sometimes, I did love him. More than anything in this world, so telling Elizabeth may be wrong... Or it may do nothing but stop Elizabeth from panicking... If she knew beforehand it may not change her answer, but then again...

_Bang._

A knock at the door interrupted my thoughts with a rather rude jolt. I stood up and went to see who it was.

"Morning, Izzy!" a ginger haired man grinned as my jaw dropped open, his green eyes sparkled at me.

"George!" I cried, fighting the temptation to fling myself into his arms and give him a hug. I hadn't seen him in over two years, but embracing someone who was not a relative was not exactly smiled upon. He lived next door and we'd met a while after James and I had moved in. He joined the Navy as soon as he was old enough and had been away for two years after the awkward few months he had spend working with my brother. His laugh was familiar and kind of homely.

"Good to see you!" he sounded sincere.

"You too," I smiled, feeling like a child all over again. "When did you get back?" I asked.

"Not long ago. How are you, Will, Elizabeth and James?"

"Elizabeth!" I shrieked as something pinged on in my brain at the mention of her name. George stumbled out of the way as I charged past him and out into the street, slamming the door behind me as I went. The slam made my stomach twist. I may be in a fair bit of trouble for that. I pelted down the streets of Port Royal towards Elizabeth's house with my mind made up. I ran up the long driveway and hammered on her door. George caught up with me a few moments later.

"Would you… like to … explain what… is going… on?" he demanded, panting after chasing me for so long. I was spared having to answer by one of Elizabeth's servants opening the door, rather alarmed by all my loud hammering. Since I visit Elizabeth almost every day most of her maids and man servants are sick of the sight of me (and do a very good job of hiding it).

"I take it by the volume and urgency of your consistent banging that this is an urgent call Miss Norrington and not simply a pleasurable visit?" the butler asked coldly.

"All my visits are pleasurable you should find, Mr Barrymore." I smiled. I knew he was one of those ones who found me rather irritating.

"Of course Miss," sneered Barrymore, sounding as if he wished nothing more than to throttle me. "Come in."

George and I stepped through the big black doors. It was much cooler inside compared to the heat and humidity of the Caribbean weather outside. The floor was cold marble stone. Exquisite artwork hung around the walls of the entrance hall, not that I had much time to admire them. We were lead by a very disapproving butler into the entrance hall. Will was there, which wasn't really any great surprise. He'd jump at any excuse to see Elizabeth. He had a long box under his arm and was leaning on one of the lights on the wall. I turned to George and pressed a finger to my lips, pointing at Will. Mr Barrymore rolled his eyes and left. I sneaked over to where he stood. He didn't hear me coming; his eyes were fixed intently on the sweeping marble staircase, waiting for Elizabeth and her father to descend. I reached up on tiptoe until my mouth was by his ear.

"Surprise!" I whispered. He got such a fright his knees buckled. The light came off in his hand. George and I fell about laughing. Once Will had recovered he rounded on us frowning. That's the thing about Will, he's always frowning.

"Look what you made me do!" he shook the broken light at us. We stopped laughing. "What's Governor Swann going to say?"

"Nothing if he doesn't know." I replied. I could see him thinking it through. The he shrugged and hid the evidence behind a chair.

"What are you two doing here?" he asked.

"I **need** to speak to Elizabeth." I replied and was careful not to mention why. "And then we're going to the ceremony. Why are you here?"

He didn't have time to answer because just then Governor Swann voice rand out across the entrance hall. "Ahh, William." he greeted. Will put on his best smile; his only smile. It was odd seeing him smile rather than frown. It made a change. Governor Swann greeted George and I before he and Will became absorbed in a sword Will pulled out of a box. George was interested, but I wasn't paying too much attention to the conversation, so they had to ask the same thing three times before I realised they were talking to me.

"Isabel." George said loudly and slowly. "What do you think."

Will was frowning at me. Maybe it was only me he frowned at. "It's lovely." I said, glancing at it. It was quite nice, I had to admit, "But why are you asking me?"

"It is for your brother." Governor Swann explained patiently.

"Oh."

"Do you think he will like it?" Governor Swann asked. I stared at the sword again. How was I supposed to know? I wasn't allowed near any of James's swords. If you ask me he was just afraid I'd beat him. It looked sharp and it looked fancy.

"He will love it." I concluded out loud.

Will half-smiled.

"Yes," agreed Governor Swann, "I think he will be very pleased with that." Will started to show it off and show off his own skills. I stepped back encase he took my eye out with it. Governor Swann laughed. "Send my thanks to your master."

Will put the sword away and I saw him blush. He smiled again. Blimey! Two and a half times in one day! "I shall," he said, "A master always likes to know his word is appreciated."

"Will!" Elizabeth's voice floated down to us. She appeared in a beautiful new dress, he hair piled elegantly on top of her head. Will's eyes were fixed on her as she descended the stairs. He had a dreamy look on his face and she was smiling at him.

"Elizabeth!" he father exclaimed, "you look stunning."

Will gave a slight nod of agreement. George glanced at me. I looked away and bit back my laughter. Will looked like he'd been hit on the head and stunned.

Elizabeth carried on, not acknowledging the presence of George and I, "I had a dream about you last night."

"Now, I'm not sure that's entirely proper…" Governor Swann began, but they seemed to have forgotten that even he was there.

About me?" Will inquired.

"Yes, about the day we met, do you remember?" she said eagerly.

"How could I forget, Miss Swann." He said.

She sighed. "Will, how many times must I ask you to call me Elizabeth?"

He seemed to become more aware of everyone staring at them. "Just once more, Miss Swann, as always." He replied. Their happy secluded little bubble burst.

"Well, at least the boy has a sense of proprietary." Governor Swann scolded her. Her eyes hardened. "Now come on, we haven't got all day."

Elizabeth gave Will a curt nod, her voice was icy, "Good day, Mr Turner."

She stalked off after her father. I bade a quick goodbye to Will and George, and ran after her. We stepped back into the warmth of the Jamaican sun. We climbed into the awaiting carriage.

"Elizabeth." I kept my voice low as the carriage sped away. "I think you deserve warning that James is planning to propose, to you."

She stared at me. "What…?"

"I just thought you should know." I said. Now it was up to her what she did. Her face was pale and she became a bit shakey.

"I-I don't want to… no offense." she said, hastily.

"None taken. Nobody wants to." I smiled.

"I'm sure lots of women do, he's a fine man, but…"

"He's not Will." I finished. She turned to me. "What! What … no I don't. That wouldn't be proper at all! I… I… I just don't want to make the decision right now."

"I could buy you some time." I suggested. She stared at me intently and I began to voice out loud the plan which had been forming in my mind. Men may be the stronger sex, but they have no idea how we women can scheme.


	4. The Pirate

_**Hey: Thank you to everyone who's read it so far and thanks to SaveroftheMoon and Blacky for reviewing it. Blacky pointed out my mistakes over James Norrington's description, I am sorry and I have changed it. Anyway... on with the story.  
**_

_**LittleVampirateXX  
**_

* * *

As I had predicated the ceremony was unbelievably boring. My mind wandered past the Redcoats parading around in their wigs and hats and over the walls of the Fort to where the sea was. It was like a sparkling beacon of …of… well, I wasn't sure what, but I liked it. I knew there were dangers on the waters, the most dangerous of which being pirates, but I longed to sail again. James scolded my for my foolishness the one time I mentioned it to him. He told me that it wasn't all fun and games. I know that. I'm not an imbecile. I have seen the dangers for myself and I have heard tales of those lost at sea. I have seen the devastation caused by pirates when they attack ports. It had happened here often enough. But to sail just once more…

Elizabeth nudged me.

I had been looking in completely the wrong direction. I turned my head. James was walking between two lines of Redcoats. I felt pride swell in my chest. I did tease him awfully, but only because I loved him so much. I smiled at him, but he kept an annoyingly straight face, his noble features set. When he reached the end of the line Governor Swann handed him the sword. Everyone murmured and gasped in astonishment when James showed off with it, but I'd seen him practicing it at home. I'd also seen him drop it. Nonetheless I clapped louder than everyone else when he was finished.

After painfully long speeches form, it seemed, just about everyone who was there, the celebrations began. Everyone was talking politely to one another, which was just as boring as he speeches, but that's the upper-class for you. I only took my eyes off Elizabeth for a second to answer Mrs Spencer's "Aren't we having lovely weather" comment with "Yes, Mrs Spencer, thank you for coming. What a lovely dress you are wearing!" Although I have to admit that I was actually thinking "It's the Caribbean and it's not hurricane season! We haven't had any rain for two days! What kind of weather were you expecting?"

But anyway, when I turned back to Elizabeth, she wasn't there. I looked around. I scanned the faces around me. There were two missing; James and Elizabeth. I spotted them at the top of the fort. This was it.

"James!" I called. His ears went red. He'd heard me, but wasn't admitting it. He carried on talking. I started to run towards him. "James! James! I really, really need to-"

I didn't get any further.

I had my hand outstretched to grab onto James and make him listen, but he saw me coming and moved. I blundered forward, elbowing Elizabeth in the nose. I had almost stopped myself when my foot met James's and I tripped. I flew forwards. The ground beneath my feet became sky and I plummeted off the edge of the fort. My heart was beating and I was sure it had lodged itself in my throat. I do not know where my stomach was, but t didn't feel as if it was still in my insides.

The water hit me like a slap. The shock caused me to inhale, but all that happened was my lungs filled with water. I couldn't move. I sank down. I tried to swim upwards, by my dress was so heavy and waterlogged I didn't have the strength. The water filled my brain and I couldn't think. I hit the seabed. It was in my lungs. My eyes rolled back. I tried to fight it, but the light from the surface was fading rapidly. My waterlogged heart lifted as a pair of strong arms grabbed me round the waist and pulled my up. I couldn't look to see my saviour's face. Everything was black.

***

Water was being pushed from my lungs. I coughed it up onto the wet wood. My head was pounding. I lay back. A pair of dark brown eyes met mine. I didn't know who they belonged to, but they were so deep that for a second they were all I could see. I blinked. A man's voice, light and teasing reached my ears and broke through the watery stupor of my brain.

"I know those events can be boring, love, but there's no need for you to throw yourself off a cliff." he smiled at me. I felt myself half-smile back, but then my brain woke up and I saw him. Properly saw him. He was a pirate. His clothes were old and faded and his eyes were outlined by something which looked like kohl. His long dark hair was intricately braded and adorned with beads. It was also wet. I had been saved by a pirate. That didn't make any sense at all. He frowned as his eyes travelled from my face to my neckline. He reached out a hand covered with rings and examined the medallion. His eyes filled with curiosity, "Now where did you get that?" he asked.

I could do nothing but stare at him. Then I heard the sounds of several hurrying pairs of feet and the clicks of many guns as I was hauled to my feet by Governor Swann and Elizabeth.

"On your feet!" James snarled. I shivered, not only because I was cold, but because James was so terrifying when was angry. His tone was icy and hostile, his eyes full of anger. Governor Swann handed me a blanket. I pulled it round my shoulders. My face grew hot as I realized that I was standing in nothing but my under garments. Whilst saving me the pirate had removed my dress.

"I'm sorry." she hissed.

"Not you fault. Bought you some time though." I muttered. She nodded. I pause for thought. "Take this!" I hissed handing her the medallion. "The pirate saw it and if he says anything we're in so much trouble."

She took it from me and I turned to James. "James. Do you really intend to kill my rescuer?"

He gave me a look that could turn milk sour, but he nodded for the guns to be lowered. The pirate smiled at me. I **almost** smiled back, but I managed to stop myself. He had a nice smile, cheeky, but nice.

"I believe thanks are in order." James's tones were no warmer. I found myself silently willing the pirate not to take it. I don't know why. I had to remind my self that** he was a pirate**! What was I doing? What was I thinking? I vowed to keep my mouth closed from here onwards. The pirate slowly reached out his hand. James grabbed it a roughly pulled up the man's sleeve. I could see the pirate inwardly cursing as the 'P' branded on his arm became visable. James smirked, "Had a brush with the East India Traiding Company have we? Pirate."

"Hang him!" Governor Swann commanded, his voice a few tones higher that usual.

James nodded. "Keep your guns on him men! Gillette fetch some irons!" he commanded. He continued to pull up the pirate's sleeve. He had a tattoo of a bird on his arm. A sparrow by the look of it. James tutted, "Well, well, Jack Sparrow isn't it."

"It's Captain actually." Sparrow countered. James raised his eyebrows and looked around him with mock interest.

"I don't see your ship, Captain." he said.

"I'm in the market, as it were."

One of the Redcoats standing beside Mr Sparrow chipped in, "He said he'd come to commandeer one."

"Told you he was telling the truth!" said the Redcoat on the other side of Sparrow. He picked up an assortment of belongings from the dock and held them out for James. "These are his, sir."

James began to pick through Sparrow's things. He held up a pistol and inspected it, "No additional shot or powder." He threw it back on the pile and picked something else up, "A compass that doesn't point north." He pulled the sword out of its sheath. His voice was full of scorn, "And I half expected it to be made of wood."

Sparrow said nothing to defend himself.

"Ignore him Captain Sparrow, everyone else does." I said. So much for keeping my mouth closed! And **Captain **Sparrow? I thought we'd just established that he was not a Captain at all. He smiled at me again. The corners of my mouth twitched, but I kept it under control. Why was my mouth not listening to my brain? James was glaring at me. Oh dear, I was in trouble. But for just now James had more troublesome people to deal with.

"You are undoubtedly the worst pirate I've ever heard of." he said.

"But you have heard of me." Sparrow smiled. I gave a soft laugh. I don't think James heard me. Either that or he was ignoring me. I'm sure Sparrow did, as he was glancing at me with growing interest. I flushed and avoided his gaze. What was wrong with me?

James grabbed Sparrow roughly by the shoulder and pulled him up the jetty to where Gillette had the irons waiting. I was surprised when Elizabeth stepped forward and spoke and it gave me strength to realise she was on my side. "Commodore, I really must protest!" He looked at her in surprise. As their eyes me I saw his soften. It was the first time I'd noticed just how completely in love with her he was. Elizabeth either hadn't noticed or was using it to our advantage, "Pirate or not, this man saved Izzy's life."

James looked torn between giving her what she wanted and impressing her. "One good deed is not enough to redeem a man of a lifetime of wickedness."

"Though it seems enough to condemn him." Sparrow said, as Gillette chained his hands together.

"Indeed." James snarled. Gillette moved away from Sparrow.

"Finally!" the pirate muttered. Then he threw the chains joining his hands around Elizabeth's neck. Guns were still pointed at him, but now Elizabeth was in the line of fire.

"No! Don't shoot!" Governor Swann shouted.

"I knew you'd warm up to me." Sparrow smiled. He looked at James, "Commodore Norrington, my effects please… and my hat!" James hesitated. Sparrow pulled the chains tighter. "Commodore!" he said in warning tones. James got Sparrow's belongings from the Redcoat. Sparrow turned his attention to my friend, "Elizabeth. It is Elizabeth, isn't it?"

"It's Miss Swann." she corrected him coldly.

"Miss Swann, if you'd be so kind. Come, come dear, we don't have all day." His tone wasn't as light as it had been prior to him being chained up. James handed Elizabeth Sparrow's possessions and we waited with baited breath as he grabbed his pistol from the top and place it to her temple. He turned her around, "Now if you'd be very kind."

We watched as Elizabeth put his hat on him and then as she reached around him to put on his holster Sparrow looked at James over her shoulder and smiled. There was a meaning behind his smile. He knew how James felt. He'd seen the look in James's eyes. James sighed.

"Easy on the goods, darlin'" Sparrow muttered.

"You're despicable!" she replied with venom in her voice. She stepped back when she'd finished.

He shrugged, "Sticks and stones, love." He whirled he back around and began backing towards the end of the jetty. "Gentlemen, ladies, you will always remember this as the day you almost caught Captain Jack Sparrow!"

And with that he pushed Elizabeth away from him and dashed to the end of the jetty. James caught her and the soldiers began to open fire on Sparrow as he grabbed a rope and kicked off. He was hoisted into the air. I'll never know how he managed to dodge so many bullets, but he did. He got into Port Royale without being hit and without firing a single shot himself.

I hate to admit it, but I was a little impressed.


	5. Pirates

My damp clothes stuck to me like a second skin. I shivered as I pulled them off. I changed into another dress and sat by the fire to warm up. When I had I sat down by the window and stared out into the streets. I could hear the sounds of marching feet accompanying the lines of Redcoats that were scouring Port Royale for the pirate. It worried me how long it seemed to be taking them to find him. I wondered where James was. His troops were searching all of the buildings and there was an overwhelming sense of panic in the streets, but I was serenely safe in my place by the window, watching the rest of the world panicking. My whole life seemed to be like that, sitting back and just watching other people risk their lives. But what could I do? I was a weak, feeble woman, who had no choice and no control over her future.

My mind turned back to Elizabeth. She had been whisked home by her father. What did Governor Swann think about the proposal? He was probably all for it. Our ploy had bought her time, but to do what? Wallow in the miserable fact that she **had **to say yes? She didn't have all that much choice in the matter at all.

And then there was James. I had never paid a considerable amount of attention to the way he looked at her, but the way his eyes had just melted when he looked at her had made me want to take back everything we'd done to buy Elizabeth time, because it had been a pointlessly stupid mission that would eventually come to nothing.

***

"We got him." James's triumphant smile as he hung up his hat and coat made me smile in return.

"You always do!" I grinned. His mood was so improved he seemed to have forgotten my momentary laps in my manners at the docks.

"The blacksmith, Mr Brown, he helped, that's where we found him."

"Was William there?" I asked and immediately regretted it. James's smile faltered and the spark in his eyes vanished and they hardened ever so slightly.

"Yeah," he said in a would-be-carefree way, "he was, but he was covered in sand."

I smirked, but said nothing. It sounded to me as if Will had put up more of a struggle than Mr Brown, but I knew James wouldn't like to hear my theory. Or maybe Will had just got into a struggle with a bag of sand.

"Have you spoken to Elizabeth?" James's carefree tone struggled to remain carefree.

"No," I replied, "but her father took her straight home. We've had an eventful day, I'm sure she'll give you an answer tomorrow. Don't worry."

He relaxed and nodded. The day fell into its usual monotonous routine, as if there hadn't been an interruption at all. Night fell and after we'd dined James went to meet Governor Swann up at the fort.

I was alone when the cannon fire started. It was not an unusual sound in Port Royale, but it struck fear into me every time I heard it. I went to the window. My breath got stuck in my throat. The ship in the harbour had sails as black as the night. Inky black. Was this a coincidence? My hands flew to my neck. The medallion! It wasn't there! Where was it? In a moment of blind panic I began to turn my room upside-down in search of it. Then I remembered handing it back to Elizabeth and I let myself relax a little. More canon fire joined the sounds of battle and pirates from the jet black ship spilled out and into Port Royale. In these situations I was forced to stay home and watch while other people suffered. Just watch and pray that James returned.

***

The battle raged well into the night. They cold light the morning brought cast a harsh light on the burnt-out buildings and dead or unconscious bodies littering the floor. James returned looking tired and worn out, his face pale and tired. He said only three words, "They've taken Elizabeth."

I froze.


	6. Escaping Port Royale

I admired the way James could be so calm. He was so good in a crisis. He had to be, in his position. I was thankful for it. It helped me be strong in the way it had so many times before. Every time I felt the sick feeling of dread or guilt of worry about a situation I only had to look to James for comfort. When the rest of the world wavered and wobbled through salty tears he always seemed to manage to stay still.

It was as if he put on a mask of sheer determination which changed him slightly and took away any side of him that may be considered weak. It was this mask her wore when he and Governor Swann met to discuss a plan of action. I wilted in the sun as they poured over a huge map of the Caribbean. I knew I wasn't helping, but I had to be near them. It was the best was to get the first news of Elizabeth as it happened.

"They've taken Elizabeth!" A shout cut through James's sentence and announced the arrival of a disgruntled Will. James didn't even look up.

"Mr Murtogg, remove this man." James was still concentrating on the map, but Will, naturally, refused to give up without a fight.

"We have to hunt them down! We must save her!"

What did he think we were all doing here?

"And where do you propose we start?" Governor Swann was, as we all were, near breaking point. "If you have any information concerning my daughter, please, share."

Will was silent, but did not leave.

"That Mr Sparrow," Murtogg stepped forward nervously, "he talked of the Black Pearl."

_The Black Pearl_, the ship with black sails, even its name sent a shudder down my spine and my stomach twisting into knots with the guilt I'd been harbouring for eight long years.

"Mentioned it is more what he did." Mullroy glared at Murtogg for opening his mouth.

"Ask him where it is, we could make a deal with him! He could lead us to it!" Will said. I didn't often agree with Will, but I did on this occasion. It seemed a quicker solution than all this hanging about.

"No," James sounded exasperated under all this new strain. The mask was starting to crack, "The pirates who invaded this fort left Sparrow in his cell, ergo they are not his allies." He turned to Governor Swann, "Governor, we will establish their most likely course."

I jumped as Will slammed his hatchet into the table, creating a hole in the map. "That's not good enough!" he shouted, his face flooded with rage. James pulled him roughly to one side.

"Mr Turner, you are not a military man, you are not a sailor. You are a blacksmith and this is not the time for rash actions." His voice dropped to a whisper, "Do not make the mistake of thinking you're the only man here who cares for Elizabeth." James handed Will his hatchet back and turned around. This time Will accepted his dismissal and stormed past me.

"This is a waste of time," I heard him mutter. I watched him go and looked back to James and Governor Swann. They were deep in conversation. This was a waste of time, especially if there was a quicker way to Elizabeth. I wanted to run after Will, just to see if there was an easier way to save her, but could I go? It would be like betraying James. I would have to collaborate with a pirate. Could I do that? If it saved Elizabeth I would, but what if Sparrow tricked us and we ended up dead?

There was no harm in asking Sparrow about the Black Pearl. Just this once I wanted to be in charge of my life and not have it all planned out for me by James and others who seemed to know what I wanted and what was best for me. On a whim I ran after Will. He was out of sight, but I knew where he'd be going. I pelted towards the jail.

I caught up with him when he was just a few paces from the entrance to the jail.

"Will!" I called. He turned. "Do you really think we're wasting time?"

He nodded and my decision was made.

"Then I'm coming with you." I told him.

"But…" he trailed off under my glare.

"She's my friend too." I pointed out. He sighed, but nodded. We entered the jail. I was surprised there was no guard on duty, but the whole town was in disarray after last night's raid, so I supposed they hadn't got round to it yet, they were just beginning to set thing straight. Even the jail hadn't escaped the attack of the Black Pearl. There was a massive whole blown in the side of the first cell. Will stormed over to the second cell.

"You. Sparrow!" he said to the only man in there.

"Eh?" Sparrow looked up from where he was lying, propping himself up on his elbows.

"You are familiar with the Black Pearl?" Will demanded.

"I've heard of it." Sparrow shrugged.

"Where does it make berth?" Will asked.

"Where does it make berth?" Sparrow repeated. "Have you not heard the stories?" Seeing the blank looks on our faces he sighed and lay back down. "Captain Barbossa and his crew of miscreants sail form the dreaded Isla de Meurta, an island that cannot be found except by those who already know where it is."

I raised an eyebrow at Will. He was glaring at Sparrow, I didn't say so, but I thought that surely if we wanted Sparrow's help we should be slightly nicer to him, not glare and shout.

"The ship is real enough; therefore it must set sail from a real place." Will reasoned. "So where is it?"

"What makes you so certain that I know?" Sparrow asked us.

"You're a pirate." said Will.

"And you want to turn profit by becoming pirates yourselves, is that it?" Sparrow smiled.

"No! Never!" Will thumped his hand down on the bars. Sparrow stared at us expectantly. Eventually Will admitted why we were there. "They took Miss Swann."

"Ahh, so it is that you've found a girl." Sparrow had a triumphant gleam in his eye. "But I'm afraid you're going to have to go it alone, I see no profit in it for me."

"We can get you out of here." I offered. He looked at me with curiosity.

"How's that? The keys ran off," he smiled. He was referring to the dog (I had named him "Rover" as a child) that stayed down here with a ring of keys in his mouth.

"They do that a lot." I said. Sparrow laughed.

Will was studying the cell door, "I helped build these cells, these a half pin barrel hinges. I f I apply the right amount of force the door will lift free."

Sparrow looked at Will, "What's your name, lad?"

"Will Turner."

"That would be short for William I presume," Sparrow mused, "Good, strong name, no doubt the name for your father, eh?"

I looked at Will. He, understandably, looked confused. "Yes."

Had that just been a lucky guess? Will's father had left Will and his mother years before we'd known him. Sparrow was thinking things over.

"Tell you what," he said, standing up, "I've changed me mind. If you spring me from this cell, I swear on pain of death I will take you to the Black Pearl and your bonny lass. Do we have an accord?"

He stuck out his hand for Will to take. They shook on it and then Will used an upturned bench to lift the door free. There was a horrible grating sound and a clang. "Hurry," Will urged, "Someone will have heard that."

Sparrow grabbed his things from where they hung outside his cell. Will turned to me, "Alright Isabel, you can leave now."

"What!" my mouth dropped open.

"That's not very nice." Sparrow commented.

"I don't need you anymore, go home." Will told me.

"No! Why can't I come to? I'll be more useful than you!"

"But we-"

"If may interrupt with my professional opinion," Sparrow said, "you two are wasting a lot of time and Ms Norrington could be useful, as we have a distinct lack of crew members, plus she is willing to come and as she seems like a feisty one I would advise you not to disagree with her, I'm pretty sure she could win this argument."

I smirked. Will's eyes hardened, but he nodded. "Fine then. We'd better get a move on."

He turned and began to storm out of the jail. Sparrow looked at me and smiled. I whispered a "Thank you" before we headed off after Will.

We hadn't thought about how we were going to get Sparrow out of Port Royale without being noticed by someone, but nobody took much notice and we made it to the docks undetected. We stopped while Sparrow surveyed the ships. "Ms Norrington," he said, "what can you tell me about the Dauntless and the Interceptor?"

"The Dauntless is big and powerful, with many guns, but the Interceptor is the fastest ship in the Caribbean." I told him. He would have got the same answer if he'd asked me in my sleep.

"I could have told you that." Will huffed.

"Well, I thought that being a Norrington, she would know more than you," Sparrow said, "and I was right, now shut up."

Will was silent for only a few moments, probably a bit taken aback by Sparrow's bluntness. I looked at him sideways and saw that he was following Sparrow's line of vision. Directly to the Interceptor.

"We're going to steal a ship?" he asked, "That ship?"

"Commandeer," Sparrow corrected him, "nautical term. We're going to commandeer that ship." He pointed to the Interceptor. He turned to Will, "One question about your business boy, else there's no point in going in. This girl; how far are you willing to go to save her?"

"I would die for her!"

Sparrow brightened, "Oh good."

This worried me a little, but I didn't say anything as we were on the move again. Sparrow lead us to an upturned dingy. He made us crouch underneath it, which was a little odd, but I went along with it. He revealed his plan and it was a pretty impressive one. Then, on his signal we lifted it up and walked into the sea. The water was freezing. We walked along the sea bed, but we could breathe in the air that was trapped in an air bubble under the boat.

"This is brilliant!" I grinned.

"This is madness." Will grumbled.

"Remarkable how often those two traits coincide." Sparrow commented dryly.

When we were under the Dauntless, Sparrow made us float up. We climbed up the side of the ship and Sparrow swung himself onto the deck. Will and I followed, although not as agilely.

"Everybody stay calm!" Sparrow shouted, pointing his pistol at them. "We are taking over the ship!"

Will drew his sword, "Aye, avast!"

Jack gave him a scathing look as the crew of the Dauntless began to laugh.

"This ship can't be crewed by two men." Gillette sneered his eyes fell on me, "and a _girl._ They're no use, does your brother know you're here?" He turned his attention back to Sparrow, "You'll never make it out of the bay!"

"Gentlemen, who am I?" Sparrow asked calmly. They all looked confused. I felt confused and even though I was not on the receiving end of the question, I still felt pressured to come up with an answer. In the end he answered his own question,"I'm Captain Jack Sparrow."

He motioned with his gun for them all to climb into a dingy. He stopped one and forced him to remove his sword in its sheath, he then handed it to me. "Wouldn't want you to go unarmed, love," he winked at me, "apologies for the quality, but what can you expect from the King's navy, eh?"

Gillette's lip curled in disgust as he glared at Sparrow from his seat in the dingy. I reached out to take it and felt myself automatically recoil as the pirate's fingers brushed against my own. I know he noticed and my face grew hot.

"Erm… thanks." I muttered, not entirely sure what I was meant to say. I'd never been given a stolen sword before. I'd never been given a stolen anything before. The crew of the Dauntless departed, shouting as they went and now all that was really left to do was wait. Sparrow disabled the rudder-chain of the Dauntless and Will and I kept an eye on the Interceptor.

"Isabel," Mr Sparrow approached me. I frowned. "Can I call you that? Isabel? Or do I have to continue calling you Ms Norrington until the day I die?" I hesitated, thinking first of all that I hoped not to know him until the day he died. "I'll help you with this difficult decision," he said, "I'm going to call you Isabel anyway."

"Well then, I guess I have no choice, Mr Sparrow." I said, wondering why I wasn't more annoyed at his complete disregard for manners.

"It's Jack, love."

I nodded. There was a moment of silence. I wondered if he was finding it awkward too. He looked completely at ease. Did I look nervous or awkward to him? What was I doing with my hands? Don't fidget... but don't just leave them hanging there... that's not very-

"Isabel, what relation are you to the Commodore?"

Oh good! A distraction from the awkward ugliness of my hands.

"I'm his sister." I replied. Jack's face split into the widest grin I've ever seen. I frowned, "What?"

"I thought you were married to him!" he chuckled. My disgust must have showed on my face because he laughed louder. "Alright, I'll take that as a no, love."

"Jack!" Will appeared suddenly beside us and the laughter fell short, "They're catching up."

Jack's lips parted in a smile and there was a beautiful moment where the realisation that everything was going right was all we could smell. Then there was the mad scramble to get into our positions and be ready for them without being seen. It didn't take long for the Interceptor to draw up alongside us, a long shadow of the mast creeping along the deck as it slowed beside us. I heard James shouting orders to the crew and I felt a twinge of guilt at my betrayal. As James sent his soldiers swinging over to the Dauntless, Jack handed Will and I a rope each and one by one we swung over, unnoticed. We landed on the deck of the Interceptor. James had sent all of his men on to the Dauntless to find us. All but one. Jack strode over to him.

"Can you swim?" he asked the sailor.

"Like a fish…" the sailor promised.

"Good." Jack smiled and pushed him overboard.

The Interceptor was already ready to set sail. Once the ties between the Dauntless and Interceptor had been cut we were free to sail away. The ship began to move away. James noticed and shouted to his crew to get back over to the Interceptor. They tried to swing across, but the distance between the two ships was too great and they just splashed into the water below. James saw us aboard the Interceptor. Jack shouted to him, "Thank you for getting us ready to set sail, we'd have had a hard time of it by ourselves."

James's eyes fell on me and they widened. "Isabel!" he shouted "Isabel! What are you doing?"

He looked more scared than angry. I felt an arm slip around my waist. Jack pulled me closer to him. His side connected with mine and I looked up at him. What was he doing? He looked down at me and smiled. He bent his head until it was close to mine, close enough to kiss me and for a minute I actually thought he was going to. I started to panic. His eyes slid from mine to look up and his smile changed. I glanced at what he was looking at and watched James's face fill with horror at how close we were. Once it had become clear it was all to wind him up, I couldn't help but laugh. I loved seeing that look on my brother's face. There was something so childishly funny about it.

"Don't worry Commodore; I'll bring her back in one piece," shouted Jack, his grip around my waist tightening.

James's various threats and insults were swept away by the wind and I couldn't hear them over Jack's laughter.

"I am in so much trouble when I get home." I giggled, but at that particular moment, even though I had put myself in the most danger I'd ever been in, even though I was with a pirate, I couldn't have cared less.


	7. Life At Sea

"Enjoying yourself, love?" Jack asked me as he passed on his way to the wheel.

"Yes," I replied, "actually I am."

And I was telling the truth. Life aboard the Interceptor was not as hard to cope with as I had fist feared. I did as much as I knew how and Jack helped me when I didn't have a clue what I was doing, which, if I'm honest, was quite a lot of the time. But the work was enjoyable and it was a lovely day to be spending outdoors.

"When will we be in Tortuga?" I called over to Jack.

"Should be by nightfall," he replied and I smiled at the good news.

"Good." I said. "Where do we go from there?"

"We pick up a crew and head to the Isla de Meurta; we could have your Elizabeth back within the week."

I nodded. There was a pause.

"Isabel," he said slowly, with the air of someone who deciding the best way to phrase an awkward question.

"Yes?"

"Where did you get that medallion?"

I looked away, letting my hair fall over my face to hide my discomfort. I had been expecting that question to come up, but I had hoped I could avoid it as long as possible. I kept quiet, hoping he would let it pass or think I hadn't heard him, but he saw through me.

"Isabel, love?"

"I can't tell you." I sighed.

"Can't or don't want to?"

"Both, so please drop it." I said.

"If I guess, will you tell me?" he asked. He took my silence as a 'yes'. "You stole it."

I wasn't a question, it was a statement. And he was spot on. My jaw dropped. He ducked down and lifted my hair way form my face to study my expression. He tilted my face to his and laughed. I didn't care for being laughed at. I felt a flush creep up the back of my neck.

"And you stole it from William," his voice was low, but I glanced around to check Will wasn't anywhere near.

"How did you know that?" I whispered. He smiled.

"Lucky guess," he gave a carefree shrug with his blatant lie. I sighed. His smile widened, "and I'm going to make another one; Elizabeth now has it."

I didn't say anything. I didn't have to; he knew from my expression that he was right. He nodded and started to walk away.

"How did you know all that?" I called after him as he breezed past. "And if you say it was a 'lucky guess' I'll punch you."

This amused him, "That's not very ladylike, but I bet you punch like a girl!"

"Jack!" I glowered at him.

"Not telling, you'll have to hope your guesses are a lucky as mine." His eyes danced with laughter. I desperately wanted to outsmart him.

"That's why they took Elizabeth as their only hostage." I was surprised to find that I already knew the answer. His smile faltered.

"Yes," he said, "very good, love."

I chewed on my bottom lip. We had stolen the medallion from Will, did that mean he was associated with them. I mumbled something about having to leave, although I wasn't sure where I would go. I couldn't exactly leave the ship. In a daze I began to slowly walk away from Jack. Was this my fault? If I had hung onto the medallion a little longer , would she still be with us?

"Isabel," Jack's voice made me turn even before I realised I'd heard it. "It's not you're fault, love. If she hadn't had that medallion she probably wouldn't be alive. They'd have shot her immediately," he assured me. I nodded. "And I won't tell William if that's what you want."

"Please don't. We did it for the right reasons, we thought-"

He held up a hand, cutting my explanation shut. "Save your breath, love, I don't need to hear reasons, I'm sure yours are better than any of mine."

"Can you tell me why?"

"No." he said, "I'm afraid you just going to have to trust me."

"Alright," I nodded. If he could keep my secret I would have to trust him.

***

My heart jumped straight into my mouth when I saw Will talking to Jack. Would he tell? I walked over feeling ill.

No, he hadn't said anything. Will was just boring Jack, for unfathomable reasons, with his life story; "After my mother died I came out here, looking for my father, William Turner," he said. That was the only bit that caught my attention. I knew what Will was doing now; he wanted to know how Jack had known his father's name.

"Is that so?" Jack appeared uninterested.

"In the jail, it was only after you learnt my name that you agreed to help us, as that's what I wanted I didn't press the matter. I am not a simpleton, Jack." Will scowled. Unbeknown to him, Jack had raised his eyebrows disbelievingly at me when he had declared himself as "not a simpleton". I bit back a laugh. Jack winked, Will continued, "You knew my father?"

Jack lowered his eyes, deep in thought. "I knew him," he eventually sighed, "Probably one of the only ones who knew him as William Turner, everyone else just called him Bill, or Bootstrap Bill."

"Bootstrap?" Will repeated, looking just as confused as I felt.

"Good man," Jack nodded, "Good pirate. I swear you look just like him."

I gasped. Will was outraged.

"My father was not a pirate!" he said, "He was a merchant sailor, a good respectable man who obeyed the law."

Jack chuckled, "He was a bloody pirate and a scallywag."

"That's not true!" he drew his sword "My father was not a pirate."

Jack didn't even have to turn round to know Will had his sword out. "Put it away lad, there's no use you getting beat again."

Again? What did that mean? Had Will and Jack fought before? Evidently I was right and it wasn't Mr Brown who had stopped Jack in the blacksmith's.

"You didn't beat me; you ignored the rules of a fair fight. I'd have killed you!" Will's voice quivered with rage.

"Well, then, that's no reason for me to fight fair now, is it?" said Jack. I felt him pull on my arm with one hand as I saw him grab the wheel with his other. He pulled me down to the deck and turned the wheel sharply. The boat turned sharply and the boom swung around and hit Will in the chest. His sword flew out of his hand and landed on the deck with a clatter as the boom he was now clinging to carried him out over the sea. He dangled above the foaming waves. Jack stood up and I followed suit, my eyes flickering warily between Will and Jack. For the first time since we had recruited Jack's help I was fearful of him.

"Jack, what are you doing?" I asked as he picked up Will's sword and pointed it at him. It was a stupid question, as it seemed pretty apparent that he was in the middle of threatening Will. I suppose it was for that reason that he ignored me.

"So long as you're just hanging there, pay attention, the only rules that matter are these; what a man can do and what a man can't do. For instance you can accept that your father was a pirate **and** a good man, or you can't, but pirate's in your blood boy and you're going to have to square with that one day. Now me, I could let you drown, but I can't bring this bloody big ship into Tortuga all by me onesie, savvy?"

I didn't point out that I was here too; I was busy trying to figure out what to do about Will. I couldn't fight Jack, I wasn't anywhere near strong or skilful enough, but I couldn't let Will drown!

"So," Jack spun the wheel again. This time I knew what was coming and ducked. Will landed on his back. Jack stood beside him, the sword at Will's throat, "Can you sail under the command of a pirate," he flipped the sword so that the hilt was facing Will, "Or can you not?"

"Tortuga?" Will grabbed the sword.

"Tortuga," Jack nodded.


	8. Tortuga

It wasn't exactly what you'd call pleasant. The smell was appalling; an odd mixture of sick, sweat and alcohol. I tried to breathe through my mouth as much as possible to avoid the stench.

"It is indeed a sad life that has never breathed deep this sweet bouquet that is Tortuga, savvy? What do you think?" Jack turned to us. His grin was broad and there was a clear glint of expectant hope in his eyes. I cast my eye around the shambles that was the streets of Tortuga; the fights, the drunken anarchy, the litter, mess and noise.

"It'll linger," Will answered for both of us. Jack failed to detect the distain in Will's voice. He nodded.

"I tell you, mate, if every town in the world was like this one, no man would ever feel unwanted," he looked around at Tortuga. His eyes fell on the fierce woman with flaming red hair who was striding towards us, "Scarlette!" he greeted.

She slapped him and stalked off.

The grin was off his face now. "Not sure I deserved that," he rubbed his cheek. He had only just recovered when a skinny blonde approached with a face like thunder. The smile was back on Jack's face, "Giselle!"

"Who was she?" Giselle asked, but before he could reply she too slapped him and stalked off. I noticed a pattern emerging.

"I may have deserved that." Jack admitted. Will smirked. His smug look clearly showed that he agreed. Will's look stirred an odd feeling of shame and hate in me. It was so condescending! Did I ever act like that?

Jack led us down some dark alleys until the smell of manure was strong in my nostrils. We were about to enter the side entrance of a tavern, but Jack spotted someone around the side, lying in among the pigs and pig muck.

"Aha," he muttered, approaching the figure that was snoring loudly. Jack picked up a pale of water and threw it over the man.

"Curse ye' for breathing ye' slack-jawed idiot," the man sprung to life, brandishing a dagger. His voice was slightly familiar under the harshness. His eyes slowly focused on Jack. "Mother's love! Jack! You should now better than to wake a man when he's sleeping. Its bad luck."

"Ah, but fortunately I know how to counter it. The man who did the waking does the man who was sleeping a drink. The man who was sleeping drinks the drink while listening to a proposition from the man who did the waking."

I was just about following. There was a pause as the man thought it through. "Aye, that'll about do it," he smiled, taking the hand Jack offered and standing up. When he was on his feet Will threw another pale of water over him.

"Blast it I'm already awake!" the now drenched man shouted.

"That was for the smell." Will wrinkled his nose. The man looked as though he was about to retaliate, but then his face relaxed as he realized Will's point was true. It was then that I recognised him although I couldn't really believe it.

"Joshamee Gibbs," I muttered. Both he and Jack looked at me. Gibbs's eyes widened in surprise.

"Miss Norrington?"

Jack frowned at us, "Do you two know each other?"

"Aye, that's James Norrington's sister. I used to be part of his crew. What are you doing here?" Gibbs replied.

"Barbossa and his crew took her friend." Jack spoke for me.

"It was Elizabeth." I said.

Gibbs looked shocked, but not about Elizabeth. "Barbossa," he repeated, looking at Jack with shock and disbelief. Jack nodded. He was trying to tell Gibbs something silently with his eyes, but Gibbs didn't pick it up. He started to speak but Jack grabbed him roughly and pushed him in the door. After a confused hesitation, Will and I followed; he had a look of mistrust over Jack's actions. He looked at me for help, but I shrugged. We picked our way through the jostling crowds in the bar. Jack and Gibbs were sitting at a table. We approached them, but Jack stood up and came over to us before we had a chance to get there. He smiled brightly.

"You two, come with me, I need to talk to Master Gibbs on his own, he may take some convincing," he said, leading us away from the table. "Keep a weather eye," he told us, glancing around the crowded tavern. Will and I watched him join Gibbs again.

"Keep an eye on Jack." Will said quietly.

"Why?"

"I don't trust him, that's why," he replied. I almost snapped. I almost told him that I wouldn't keep and eye on Jack. I almost told him that, although he may not trust Jack, I was beginning to.

"What are they doing?" Will asked. I glanced over at the two men.

"Talking," I said, "and drinking, well, Jack's drinking, Gibbs just chocked on his. They look like they're arguing. Now Jack's trying to signal something, but Gibbs isn't getting it…"

"Isabel look away," Will instructed, I did, but only to look at him.

"Why?"

"They're looking at us."


	9. Night

We didn't ask Jack why he'd been looking at us. We were both afraid of the answer. I wasn't ready to have the hope I'd built up shattered. Will was silent. He was in a mood, it was really bothering him; not knowing Jack's motives. I told myself that we were just being paranoid and absolutely everything was fine. I think Jack may have noticed Will's mood, for he was quiet too. He didn't stay long in the tavern. I thought he might want us to spend the whole night there, but after he and Gibbs had finished they're drinks we left almost straight away.

"Where's Gibbs?" I asked as we came in sight of the Interceptor.

"Gone to find us a crew," Jack replied, "We should be ready to sail by tomorrow morning."

"That's good," I smiled. "Isn't it Will?"  
I tried to bring him into the conversation, but the only reply was the band of a door. Will had disappeared somewhere below deck leaving Jack and I alone on the deck. I wasn't sure how I felt about that.

"Am I detecting a little hostility between me and William?" Jack asked.

"Erm… I'm sure it's nothing personal," I lied. "He's just a bit… preoccupied at the moment."

Jack laughed at me, "You are the worst liar I know."

"Well, I'm sure you know very many." I was surprised by my own boldness. I think he was too, but he laughed.

"True, love, true," he smiled.

"I appreciate what you're doing for us, Jack." I said. He raised his eyebrows.

"Do you now?"

"Yes. You could have stabbed us in the back a thousand times by now, but you haven't you've stuck to your word."

"Did you not expect me to?" he asked. I said nothing, hoping the darkness would cover my blush. He gave a soft chuckle, "didn't expect you to. Like brother, like sister."

That annoyed me a little. What did he know about me and James?

"What's that supposed to mean?" I snapped.

"You made up your mind up about me before you knew me, just like your brother," his tone was light, but I could hear disgust bubbling below the surface.

"Hypocrite!" I shouted. "That's exactly what you've just done!"

"Well, I know you're type."

"What do you mean 'my type'?" I glared at him, but he didn't back down.

"I mean that you are nothing but a snooty little rich kid that has everything handed to her on a silver platter by doting parents." Jack's words stung and I said nothing, I couldn't risk talking. I was too angry. He saw he had struck a nerve, "Oh sorry(!) Did I offend you precious mummy and daddy?"

"My parents are dead."

Those few quite words seemed louder than any of the times I'd shouted. They rang out across the deck. I watched the mocking smirk on Jack's smug face fade. I turned away. I knew what would come next. The sympathetic looks and words of comfort I got from everyone. As if they knew what James and I were going through. As if they knew how much we'd lost.

"I'm sorry, love."

"Yeah." I nodded and began to walk away. He caught up with me.

"My mum's dead too," he told me. Maybe he did understand a little of what it was like then.

"Really?"

"Yeah, my dad keeps her head on a piece of string."

He said it as if it was nothing unusual. I burst out laughing and all the tension was gone as he laughed along with me.

"I suppose it kind of sweet," I said after recovering from the original shock of the statement. He frowned at me.

"You're a bit odd, love."

I blushed again, "Sorry."

"Didn't say it was a bad thing," he winked at me, "'odd' can be good."

He gave me a one-armed hug before he left for him cabin. He was an alright person deep down, annoying, but tolerable.

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**A/N... That was a bit of a poinless chapter, but the next one's quite long so it would have been megalong if I'd put it in there. Thanks for reading it though!**

**~LittleVampirateXX~  
**


	10. The Crew

"Feast your eyes Capt'n," said Gibbs cheerfully, nodding to the long line of men standing on the jetty, "all of them faithful hands before the mast, every man worth his salt. And crazy to boot."

"This is your able-bodied crew?" Will scrutinized them. I thought it wasn't very kind of him, but given his foul mood, I held my tongue.

Jack did not reply to Will, but instead turned to one of the pirates, whom I was delighted to see had a colourful parrot on his shoulder, "You, sailor!" Jack said briskly, the sailor had no time to reply before Gibbs cut in.

"Cotton, sir," he told him.

"Mr Cotton? Do you have the courage and fortitude to follow orders and stay true in the face of almost certain death?" Jack's question was greeted with silence. "Mr Cotton! Answer, man!"

"He's a mute, sir," Gibbs explained, "poor devil had his tongue cut out, so he trained the parrot to talk for him. No-one's yet figured how."

While Gibbs spoke Cotton opened his mouth. I flinched away from the sight of the severed tongue. Even Jack was a little disturbed by it.

I thought he would move on, but he turned instead to the parrot on Cotton's shoulder, "Mr Cotton's parrot… same question."

"Wind in the sails! Wind in the sails!" the parrot squawked. We all looked at Gibbs.

"Mostly we fear that means yes," he said.

"'Course it does!" Jack said brightly before turning to Will and I, "Satisfied?"

"Well, you've proved they're mad." Will smirked.

I sighed, perhaps a little louder than I'd meant to. He frowned at me.

"What's the benefit for us?" a voice rang out from down the line. We followed Jack as he walked down the line until he reached the sailor whose face was hidden behind a ridiculously big hat. Cautiously, Jack lifted up the hat. A woman with strong, angular features glared up at him.

"Anna-Maria!" Jack smiled as her long dark hair tumbled out of her hat. I could guess what was about to happen. Sure enough, no sooner had I silently predicted the next scene, she struck him hard a cross the cheek.

"I suppose you didn't deserve that one either?" Will asked.

"Nope, that one I deserved," he admitted. Anna-Maria nodded in agreement.

Jack flinched as Anna-Maria raised her hand again, "You stole my boat!" she pointed an accusing finger at him.

"Actually-" he broke off as she slapped him again, "Borrowed. Borrowed without permission, but with every intention of bringing it back to you."

"But you didn't!" she yelled.

"You'll get another one." Jack promised. Again, he flinched as she raised a hand, but, again she pointed a finger at him.

"I will."

"A better one," Will chipped in.

"A better one!" Jack repeated brightly, but Will wasn't finished.

"That one," he said, pointing to the Interceptor. Everyone looked out to where he was pointing.

"What one?" Jack looked too. "That one?!?" he hissed, but Anna-Maria and the rest of the crew were looking at him expectantly. "Aye, that one. What say you?"

"Aye!" the entire crew shouted unanimously. Anna-Maria snatched back her hat and stormed off.

"No, no, no!" Gibbs protested, "its frightful bad luck to have a woman aboard."

"It would be far worse not to however." Jack replied.

"Excuse me?" I snapped.

"What?" Jack and Gibbs looked at me.

"You've had a woman aboard long before now!" I said. They looked at me blankly. "I'm a woman too, in case you hadn't noticed!"

"I promise you, love, I had noticed, but you're a special case," said Jack.

"What?"

"Well, you don't really count." Gibbs said. "You're not here by choice."

"Right."

I didn't understand and I wasn't sure I ever would.

***

We made it through a huge storm. I never knew seasickness could be so bad. I didn't think I would ever strop throwing up. It was the longest night of my life and for a few bleak hours I thought I wouldn't live to see the end of it. I have never thrown up that much in my life, never that much before and never that much after. I won't insult your intelligence by saying I was too busy throwing up to be of any use during the storm.

"Never mind, love," Jack said once while I was leaning out over the rail and emptying the content of my stomach into the sea, "You just need to find your sea-legs."

I gave him the most scathing look I could muster and he laughed as turned a new and previously undiscovered shade of green. I'd never actually thought skin could turn green when you were ill, but now I've seen it for myself. It was really bad when I had nothing left to throw up and I ended up retching for hours on end. I made it to dawn, though and by the time the sun was up it was calm enough for me to sit with the rest of the crew. After some food and a drink I felt perfectly normal. I sat down with Will and Gibbs, drifting between their conversation and my own thoughts.

"How did Jack come by that compass?" Will asked.

"What compass?" I chipped it.

"The compass that doesn't point north, but can still miraculously lead us to the Isla de Meurta." Will replied curtly.

"Not much's know `bout Jack Sparrow `till he turned up in Tortuga with a mind to go after the treasure of the Isla de Meurta. That was before I meat him of course, back when he was Captain of the Black Pearl." Gibbs told us.

"Jack was Captain of the Black Pearl?" I repeated, not sure I'd heard him properly.

"He failed to mention that." Will said.

"Well, he keeps things closer than best now. And a hard-learned lesson it was. See, three days out on the venture the first mate comes to him and says if everything's an equal share that should mean the location of the treasure, too, so Jack gives up the bearings. That night there was a mutiny. They marooned Jack on an island and left him to die but not before he'd gone mad with the heat."

"That's horrible!" I gasped. I felt queasy again, but it had nothing to do with any lingering sea-sickness.

"So that's the reason for all the..." Will did an awful impression of someone who was drunk. Gibbs gave him a withering look.

"Reason's got nothing to do with it." He said, "Now, when a man is marooned he is a given a pistol with a single shot. One shot, well… it won't do much good hunting or to be rescued. But after three weeks of a starving belly and thirst, that pistol will start to look _real_ friendly. But Jack? He escaped the island, and he still has that one shot. Oh, but he won't use it, though, save for one man. His mutinous first mate."

Will pieced it together before I did. "Barbossa," he whispered. Gibbs nodded.

"I can't listen to this." I rose from where I was sitting and let them to it. The barbarianism of it all upset me more than I could say.

"Jack." I said softly, approaching him at the wheel, "I know what Barbossa did to you and I think it's awful."

He stared at me. "What? How do you know?" he snapped. I was taken aback. I hadn't expected him to be angry that I knew.

"Gibbs told us." I said.

"Us? Right!" Jack marched over to Gibbs. I followed feeling guilty for telling on Gibbs.

"He roped a couple of sea-turtles?" Will sounded disbelieving.

"Aye," Gibbs nodded.

"Then what did he use for rope?" Will asked. Gibbs frowned.

"Human hair," Jack made them both jump, "from my back."

"Eww," I pulled a face. He flashed me a smile while Gibbs nodded knowingly to Will, who didn't look impressed by Jack's story. Jack turned to the crew, "Let go of the anchor! Mr Turner, Miss Norrington and I need to go ashore."

Will and Gibbs stood up. "What if the worst should happen?" Gibbs asked.

"Keep to the code," Jack replied, "You know that."

"Aye, the code." I didn't like the tone of Gibbs's voice; it was a little too gloomy for the code to mean anything good. I glanced at Will and saw my anxiety mirrored in his eyes. We had no time to talk about it though, the lifeboat was being lowered and the next stop was the Isla de Meurta, and Elizabeth.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to keiraliz**** and SaveroftheMoon for reviewing this and to everyone who can be bothered to read this, I appreciate it. **

**Love you guys!**

**LittleVampirateXX **


	11. The Isla de Meurta

The Isla de Meurta loomed out of the mist. It didn't look the friendliest of places. I climbed into the longboat constantly having to remind myself of why we were here. I wasn't sure if we had a plan of action, we hadn't discussed anything. Obviously I was worried about what would happen, but I felt that if I stuck with Jack then I couldn't possibly come to any harm. He seemed to always know what to do and be in control, even if what he did or said didn't make sense, I knew it eventually would. I was scarily calm around him, even as he rowed our small rowing boat into a cave.

I stared down into the dark water. There was gold coins strew on the seabed. They cast a strange golden glow around the cave. Will was holding a lamp at the front of the boat, the flickering flame sent shadows dancing around the stone walls. The light fell on a skeleton with a gleaming sword jammed between its ribs. I looked away quickly. Will had seen it too.

"What code is Gibbs to stick to if the worst should happen?" he asked.

"He who falls behind is left behind," Jack replied. It didn't sound all that appealing.

"No heroes among thieves then," said Will, which I thought was slightly harsh. As I stole a glance at Jack I couldn't help but think that pirates were more complex than everyone thought. My small insight into the world of piracy had led me to believe that there was meaning and motive behind all of their actions.

"You know," Jack's voice had a strained undertone as if he was getting tired of Will, "for having such a bleak outlook on pirates you're well on your way to becoming one. You've sprung a man from jail, commandeered a ship of the fleet, sailed with a buccaneer ship out of Tortuga," Jack began listing everything we'd done, he looked at where Will was staring at the gold beneath the water, "and you're completely obsessed with treasure."

The boat came to a stop. Jack jumped out and I followed. Will got out and hauled the boat up the rock slope away from the water.

"That's not true!" Will said angrily. Then after a pause he realized that everything Jack had said was true so he added, "I am not obsessed with treasure."

Jack climbed up the rock to look into the cave. "Not all treasure is silver and gold mate," he said, talking to Will but smiling at me as he took my hand and helped me scramble up the rock beside him. My eyes scanned the vast cave I was staring into. The crowd of pirates had their backs to us.

"He means Elizabeth." I whispered, moving over so Will could join us peering over the rock.

"Don't half state the obvious do you love?" Jack teased. I gave him a small smile. Barbossa was standing at the top of a huge mound of treasure next to a vast chest. Elizabeth was standing next to him in a red dress I hadn't seen before with her hands tied.

"Where did she get that dress?" I wondered aloud.

"Isabel, is this really the time?" Will snapped.

"Sorry," I muttered.

"It would look better on you." Jack winked at me.

"Jack, this is not the time for you to be hitting on Isabel!" said Will.

"He's not hitting on me!" I protested.

"Shh," Will hissed, "this isn't the time."

I fell quiet, embarrassed by Will's remark.

"For ten years we've been tested and tried and each one of you has proved his mettle a hundred times over and a hundred times again!" Barbossa shouted into the cave. The pirates roared in agreement.

"Suffered I have!" someone near the front shouted.

"Punished, we were. The lot of us - disproportionate to our crimes!" Barbossa shouted throwing off the lid of the chest "Here it is the cursed treasure of Cortes himself. Every last piece that went astray, we have returned, save for this." He pointed to the medallion hanging around Elizabeth's neck. Will gasped and sprang forward to rush into the cave to save Elizabeth, but Jack held him back.

"Not yet," he warned, "we wait until the opportune moment."

He pulled Will down and walked off. I began to follow.

"When's that? When it's of greatest profit to you?" he snarled. Jack stopped and turned.

"May I ask you something? Have I ever given you a reason not to trust me?" he looked at me, "Either of you? Do us a favor and stay here, and try not to do anything stupid."

Jack walked away. Before I knew what was happening Will had grabbed an oar and hid Jack on the head. Jack crumbled to the ground, out cold.

"Sorry Jack, but I'm not going to be your leaverage."


	12. Stupid Decisions

**A/N~**

**Thanks to: **

**Funkysam94 for the review, I'm glad you like it!**

**and Nelle07- ditto.**

**and Saverofthemoon~ here you go then, hope I didn't keep you waiting too long!**

**and bmdrose~ Thank you for reviewing. I love reviews and I'm glad you like the story.**

**and Kieraliz: Yeah, he does, but he gets picked on less in the last 2, doesn't he?  
**

**Love you guys and because I love you so much I'm going to try and update twice today. Anyways, on we go...**

* * *

It seemed to happen almost in slow motion. Jack's head took ages to hit the floor. I looked at him for signs of life, but his eyes remained closed and his body still. Will had walked quicker than I thought he would.

"Will!" I called; he slowed, stopped and turned. "Why did you do that? You've ruined the only chance of survival we have!! What are we going to do?!?"

I kept my voice low in case the pirates heard us arguing. He glared at me, "I tell you what we're going to do, Isabel. We're going to leave Jack and get Elizabeth. Then we're going to get back on the Interceptor and go home."

"We can't leave Jack," I said. "If Barbossa finds him, he'll be killed."

Will shrugged. "'Every man who falls behind is left behind,'" he quoted. "He wouldn't stay if it was us. Pirates don't do people favours, there's always a hidden catch, I just haven't figured out what this one is yet, but I will not let him use us. Come on."

He walked away, expecting me to follow. I had heard what he'd said and I knew that it was what I'd always been taught. If we left Jack it would make us no different from the pirates. We'd basically be following the pirates' code. I knew that was why Will did what he did. He was proving a point, but the pirates' code wasn't my code and I didn't feel I had anything to prove. I couldn't leave someone completely defenceless, especially if they fell into the hands of Barbossa. If he was going to kill us for any reason, surely it wouldn't help our case if we left him. We didn't know what we were going to do, but Jack had a plan. Will realized I wasn't following him and turned.

"Isabel!" he snapped like someone shouting at a dog.

"I'm not coming," my voice trembled as I said it, but my decision was clear. "I can't leave Jack here if he's going to be killed. If I do that, what makes me any better than a pirate? And now we don't have a plan. He did."

"So, do you want us to wait until he wakes up?" said Will sarcastically. I nodded. He glared at me and then turned on his heels and stormed away to save Elizabeth. What I really needed now was for Jack to wake up and prove me right. I was aware I could have just made the biggest mistake of my life. I had done what I thought was right, but it hadn't been easy. I picked up Jack's hat from where it had fallen and started to use it as a fan. I wasn't sure if I was doing the right thing, but it was what I had seen people in Port Royale do when ladies had fainted in the heat of the day.

"Come on Jack," I murmured, willing him to consciousness, but his eyes remained stubbornly closed. Time seemed to drag on and I started to worry. Had I made the right decision? Should I have stuck by my friends? How long had Will been gone? Had he reached Elizabeth? I listened intently, but it was eerily quiet. What were Will's chances on his own? I shouldn't have left him. Jack clearly wasn't waking up any time soon.

I stood up and left him. If I ran I could catch up with Will. The only problem was I had no idea where Will had gone. The stone passage carved into the rock twisted and turned with various openings. Had Will left by now? Had he entered the cave? I shouldn't have left him. One stupid decision that had seemed like the right thing to do at the time had got me lost and spilt up from everyone. I didn't know where Will was and I couldn't judge how far away from Jack I had gone. I forced my racing pulse to stay calm, but just as I was beginning to feel normal the silence of the cave was shattered.

Furious roars and the sound of many rushing feet split the air. They were coming. Barbossa's crew were storming the cave and I was on my own. Completely defenceless against an entire bloodthirsty crew. I pressed myself into the wall of the cave and prayed they wouldn't come my way.


	13. Aboard The Black Pearl

**Ok, I didn't manage to get it up because I thought my internet was broken, but it turned out it was just unplugged. :$ But this is quite a long chapter! :D  
**

**Vampiric-Vampaneze: Thanks. Yeah the head makes me laugh in the film!**

**kieraliz: I know, Pirates people are so unlucky, it's a disease!**

**Thanks to everyone who's added this story or read it.  
**

* * *

"We found another one," the pirate holding me said in a gruff voice, pulling me sharply into Barbossa's view. Barbossa's pale blue eyes looked me up and down.

"Shoot her," he said, "I have no use for her."

An evil grin spread across the face of the pirate holding me. "Aye, aye Capt'n," he said, the pleasure was evident in his voice.

"No!" someone shouted, "don't! Let the girl go!"

I scanned the faces around me to see who had spoken.

"Why? Is she one of your lot?" Barbossa asked. I looked to see who his question was directed at. Jack's eyes met mine. The relief I felt made me go week at the knees. He was alive and now I had a chance. Jack's eyes were wide and the colour had left his cheeks.

"Yes. If you shoot her, you'll have to shoot me too and you know what the consequence of that will be," Jack said meaningfully. A flash of understanding passed between the two men. Clearly one that Barbossa was not happy with. He stared at me for a long time, finally he nodded.

"Her life will be spared until your usefulness has run its course," he snarled. I was pushed roughly to where Jack was standing.

"What are you doing here, love?" Jack muttered. "Why aren't you with William?"

"I stayed behind," I replied quietly as we were marched out of the cave. "When you were unconscious I stayed behind to wake you up. I argued with Will and he left without me."

"You idiot!" he snarled. There was a pause, and then he looked at me. "But thank you," he said softly. "I don't know anyone else who would do that for me."

I smiled. We emerged from the cave and were forced into the rowing boats. The Interceptor was sailing away from the island. I hoped Will and Elizabeth were safe. I hoped they were hoping the same for me.

The Black Pearl was even more terrifying up close. The sails were ragged and torn with huge gaping holes. The wood the sip was made up of was stained black. Someone had once told me that it was that colour because of the amount of blood that had been split on her or by the hands of her damned crew. Jack was looking around the ship with a mixture of fondness and despair. We were hauled up onto the deck and shoved straight into the brig. The floor was covered in water.

"Apparently there's a leak," Jack commented. The pirates ignored him and banged the door shut. It was locked and we were left alone.

"What do we do?" I turned to Jack in desperation.

"Don't worry, darlin'," he put an arm around my shoulders. "Something'll turn up and if it doesn't, I sort of have a plan."

"Well, 'sort of' is very comforting," I said sarcastically.

He smiled. "I know what I'm doing, love, I'm not exactly new to these situations. If bloody William had done what I told him, the two of us wouldn't be in this mess."

I sighed, "He did what he thought was right and so did I, it just so happened that we didn't agree on what it was."

"Do you regret it?" he asked.

"I don't know, it depends on how this all turns out."

"I'll get you home, love, don't worry."

"I'm not worried. Not yet." I smiled at him. As long as I wasn't fighting for survival alone I knew I stood a chance. He opened his mouth to reply, but a blast of cannon fire cut him short. He pushed me down onto the ground as splinters of wood flew everywhere.

"Stop blowing holes in my ship!" he shouted angrily at the hole that had been blown in the side of the brig. I scrambled to my feet as he peered through the hole.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Your friends are fighting back," he replied. Then he looked at the ground, he picked up a shiny, silver fork, "Your friends are fighting back with cutlery." His eye spotted something else, "Cutlery and Gibbs's flask." He picked it up and pocketed it. His eyes then fell on the door. He strode over to it and pushed. It had been broken by the blast and swung free. Jack grabbed my hand, "Come on."

He led my out of the jail and up onto the deck where a battle was raging. Crew from both sides were swinging to the other ship. In the chaos nobody noticed us. Well, apart fro the man who, when he fell off his rope into the sea had his it stolen by Jack. "Thanks, mate," said Jack cheerfully, "Hang on tight, Isabel."

I grabbed his waist and clung on as he swung over the foaming sea. The wooden deck left my feet and for a few blissful moments I was airborne. I felt the rail of the Interceptor crash into my feet. Jack pulled himself over before helping me.

"Isabel!" someone shouted. It was Elizabeth! I ran towards her, dodging in and out of people's way.

"Elizabeth!" I cried pulling her into a tight hug.

"Izzy, I am so, so sorry," she began to gabble, but I laughed it off.

"It's okay," I said. "I'm alright."

Jack had joined us. "Where is the medallion?" he asked abruptly. Elizabeth glared at him.

"Wretch!" she shouted. I didn't know what she had to be angry about. I was confused, but Jack didn't seem phased.

"Ah, where the William?" he asked. Elizabeth's face flooded with fear.

"Will," she whispered dashing off to find him. Jack spotted something.

"Monkey!" he shouted and started running after it. I saw that the monkey had the medallion and was running towards the Pearl. Before I could shout out to Jack to be careful or reach for my sword I had been grabbed from behind by a strong pair of hands. I had been captured… again.

* * *

***

"She goes free!" a voice rang out across the deck. Will stood on the rail of the Pearl glaring at Barbossa. He was holding a gun.

"What's in your head boy? You've only got one shot and we can't die," Barbossa eyed Will with curiosity.

"Don't do anything stupid," I heard Jack pray quietly.

"You can't," Will shouted to Barbossa, not hearing Jack's words. Will turned the gun on himself, "but I can."

There was a confused silence. "Who are you?" Barbossa asked, bewildered. Jack sprang forward. "He's no one. He's the distant cousin of an aunt's nephew twice removed. Lovely singing voice, though."

"My name is William Turner," Will cut across Jack's rambling. "My father was Bootstrap Bill Turner. His blood runs in my veins."

"He's the spitting image of old Bootstrap Bill come back to haunt us!" one of Barbossa's crew exclaimed.

"On my word do as I say or I'll pull the trigger and be lost to Davy Jones's Locker," said Will. That was when it all fell into place. It finally hit me that Will was more mixed up in this than anyone wanted to be. Barbossa needed Will's blood to lift the curse and Will was sacrificing himself for us. I renounced everything bad I'd ever said about him. He was a remarkable person and I didn't want to loose him.

"Name your terms, Mr Turner," said Barbossa. As Will bartered for Elizabeth's freedom, my freedom and the safety of the crew, a tear rolled down my cheek. With a heavy heart I wished it didn't have to come to this. I bowed my head, unwilling to show my weakness. Someone gently took my hand in theirs. I glanced at them. It was Jack, he was looking straight a head, but he spoke very softly to me.

"It'll be alright, love," he promised and I knew it would be.

* * *

**Hehe! The Island bit's one of my faveourites! **

**Thanks for reading!**

**LittleVampirateXX**

**XX  
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	14. Marooned

**Hey guys! **

**Thanks for the reviews!**

**Nelle07: Thank you! **

**Something what ever: (that's great name btw!) Thanks for reading it!**

**keiraliz: Yeah me too! Love that bit! **

**SaveroftheMoon: Oh, I will throw fruit at you! #FRUIT FIGHT!!!!!!!!!#**

* * *

My hands were trembling, but it was the only part of me that I allowed to show any nerves. Elizabeth went before me, the hemline of her dress trailing along the plank we were being forced to walk. I couldn't believe what was happening, but I would be strong.

"Barbossa, you lying bastard!" Will shouted struggling towards the evil Captain. "You swore they'd go free!"

"Don't impugn me honour, boy!" snapped Barbossa. Will was gagged as Barbossa sneered at him, "I agreed they go free, but it was you who failed to specify when or where. Although it does seem a shame to loose something so fine, doesn't it lads?" Barbossa looked at Elizabeth, "So I'll be having that dress back before you go."

The crew laughed as Elizabeth ripped of the black and red dress. A lot of Barbossa's crew whistled as she threw it to Barbossa. "It goes with your black heart," she snarled.

"Oh, it's still warm," he leered at her. Elizabeth glared at him and continued her slow procession along the plank. She stopped and turned. Her eyes sought out Will and she opened her mouth to say something.

"Too long!" one of Barbossa's crew complained, jumping on the end of the plank. It shook and Elizabeth fell off. There was a splash and then it was my turn.

My hands were tied. I walked forward, holding my head high. I walked quickly, not wanting to face the same humiliation as Elizabeth. I paused only when I got to the end. I didn't look back to see if Jack was following or to say goodbye to Will because if I said that then it would make everything more final. I jumped.

The freezing water hit me and I gasped in air. It was hard to swim with my hands tied. I kicked my way to shore. Elizabeth was just a head of me and when I reached the island and turned I saw that Jack was just behind me.

Cold and soaking, but unharmed, we reached the island. I struggled out of the ropes binding my hands. We stood on the white sands catching our breath.

"That's the second time I've had to watch that man sail away on my ship," said Jack, his eyes on the Pearl. I moved closer to him and put my arm around him. I felt him shift closer to me. Elizabeth coughed. I automatically blushed and moved away from Jack; I wanted to comfort him, but I knew Elizabeth wouldn't understand.

"Isabel," she said stiffly. "Let's go for a walk."

She turned on her heel and walked away. She expected me to follow and I did. There was a long angry silence for a while.

"Elizabeth, what is it?" I asked gingerly, not quite sure why she was so angry.

"I don't know what you're playing at!" she hissed. "That man –if you can call him that – has condemned Will to death and you-"

She stopped, disgusted.

"What?" I had no idea what she was talking about. "What do you mean 'condemned Will to death'?"

She stared at me, "He was going to tell Barbossa about Will so he could get his precious ship back! For goodness sake, Isabel! I knew you were slow, but even for you this is bad!"

"No, no he-" I broke off. What she was saying made sense, but I didn't want it to. Jack's uncanny interest in Will's family, his unquenchable thirst for the Pearl and his knowledge of the curse all added up to what Elizabeth was telling me. I bit my lip, "I am such and idiot."

Elizabeth softened, "No you're not, It's not your fault, I-" she stopped, staring at the sand in front of us. There were footprints on it. They were ours; we'd gone in a full circle.

"It's not all that big is it?" said Jack, smiling. He was sitting down on the sand, holding out a gun. He was probably going to shoot us. I suddenly felt overwhelmingly miserable and tired.

"If you're going to shoot me please do so with all haste," I told him. He put the gun down and frowned.

"Is there a problem between us, Isabel?" he asked.

"It's Miss Norrington to you!" Elizabeth snapped at him.

"I wasn't talking to you," Jack snapped back. He stood up, his eyes and tone softer as he spoke to me, "Isabel, love?"

"You were going to trade Will's life for a ship," I snarled.

"We could use a ship," Jack's attempt to make me laugh fell flat. He glowered at Elizabeth, "This is your doing! Actually I was not going to tell Barbossa about bloody Will because as long as he didn't know about bloody Will, I still had something to bargain with, which now, none of us have thanks to bloody stupid Will!"

There was an angry silence.

"Oh," Elizabeth and I said in unison.

"Oh," Jack mimicked. There was a tense silence during which Jack sat down.

"I'm sorry," I said quietly.

"It's alright, love," he said. I smiled; he was so quick to forgive. He glared at Elizabeth, muttering, "It wasn't your fault."

Well, he was quite quick to forgive. I sat down beside him on the sand. I took of my shoes and set about burying my feet in the warm sand. When I looked up Jack was looking at me with laughter in his eyes.

"What are you doing?" asked Elizabeth.

"I'm sitting down," I replied. Jack shot me a puzzled look.

"How can you sit at a time like this?!?" she demanded. Jack gave a snort of laughter.

"A time like what?" I asked, bewildered.

"Will!" she said as if that explained everything.

"Oh for God's sake!" Jack snapped standing up. He walked off towards the trees. Elizabeth followed; her face like thunder. I stood up and ran after the pair of them.

"He still tried to save us! We have to help him!" she protested.

"Off you go then!" Jack waved her away. "Be sure and let me know how that turns out."

He kept walking and so did she. "But you were marooned on this island before! We can escape in the same way you did then!"

She was right; we could. Would the sea turtles work a second time round?

"To what point and purpose, young Missy? The Black Pear is gone and unless either of you have a rudder and a lot of sails hidden in those bodices-" he glanced at us, "-unlikely, then Mr Turner will be dead long before you can reach him."

He pressed his ear to a tree and knocked. He then took huge strides, counting each one. Elizabeth was momentarily confused by his actions, but was not giving up.

"But you're Captain Jack Sparrow! You vanished from under the eyes of seven agents of the East India Company. You sacked Nassau Port without even firing a shot. Are you the pirate I've read about or not?" she'd got him listening. "How did you escape last time?"

I started to explain about the sea turtles, but Jack looked at me. One look was all it took for me to know he was lying. I trailed off.

"I wasn't being completely honest with you, love," he said. I raised an eyebrow.

"And you say **I'm** a liar?!?"

"The very worst I know, it just so happens I am the very best I know," he grinned.

"We seem to be digressing from the subject, you two," said Elizabeth coldly. Jack's smile vanished.

"Last time I was here for a grand total of three days, alright?" he sighed and bent down to open a trap-door that had been hidden by sand and disappeared down it, still talking. "Last time the rum-runners used this island as a cache and I was able to barter as passage off. From the looks of things they've been out of business for a while, probably got your bloody brother to thank for that." He emerged with three bottles of rum. Elizabeth was not impressed and neither was I.

"So that's it then?" she said. "That's the grand adventure of the infamous Jack Sparrow? He spent three days lying on a beach, drinking rum?"

"Welcome to the Caribbean, love," he said pushing a bottle of rum into each of our hands.

"Unbelievable," muttered Elizabeth.

"That was an awfully unimpressive story," I agreed.

"I can hear you, you know," Jack called from where he was sitting. I walked over. His disappointing story had left a few doubts in my mind. I stared at him. He looked up.

"Were there truth in any of the other stories?" I asked. I had heard so many rumours about Jack, mainly from Gibbs about his many adventures and now I didn't know what to believe.

"Truth?" Jack repeated. He stood up. His eyes were more serious and deep than I'd ever seen him. He rolled up his sleeve a deep gash on his arm made my stomach churn. He let that sleeve fall down and rolled up his other one. Several purple bruises and red scars were now visible. He pulled back his collar to reveal two burns on his collar bone. He was showing me his war wounds. The scars he carried proved most of his stories were true. He was showing me the other side of piracy, the more dangerous side when he couldn't pull of miraculous escapes like the one from Port Royale. My eyes were drawn back to his. "No truth at all," he said quietly.

I took a deep breath, recovering from what he'd shown me. "Jack, that's awful," I said, my voice shaking.

Then he surprised me. I felt the solidity of his arms around me and the warmth of his body as he pulled me into a hug. A little taken aback I slowly wrapped my arms around him in return. His shoulder was just the right height for me to comfortably rest my chin on. "I like you better than the others, love," he murmured so quietly that anyone else present would not have heard him. Then I remembered that Elizabeth was also on the island. Jack let go and I turned to look for her, but she was gone.

I sighed and sank down onto the sand.

"Sorry," Jack sat down too. "I didn't mean to come between you and Elizabeth, darlin'"

I shook my head, "You haven't; she'll come round."

He lay back on the sand, his hands behind his head. We sat in a comfortable silence for a while.

"That cloud looks like a parrot," Jack commented. I lay back to see what he was talking about. I found myself staring into a cloudless sky.

"What cloud? There aren't any!" I said.

"There is! It's over there by that palm tree."

I looked to see he had his head tilted back and was staring at a tiny, fluffy white cloud in the vast expansion of blue.

"That is a miniscule speck of a cloud. It barely counts as a cloud," I said.

"I've seen smaller!" he retorted.

"Do you go around measuring them? (!)" I said sarcastically.

"Yup."

I hoped he was joking.

* * *

**I'm going to have to split the Island bit up into two parts, so I'll put the next bit up soon. **

**Do you think I should do Dead Man's Chest and At World's End as well?**

**LittleVampirateXX  
**


	15. Where has the rum gone?

Everything was spinning round and round in tight circles. Or was I the one spinning? I wasn't sure and I didn't care. Nothing had been funnier.

"You're a silly man!" I told Jack when he fell over by the fire. Were my words running together? I didn't seem to be in control of them anymore.

"That's not very nice," he said.

"Neither is Barbossa, but he doesn't have sand between his toes!" I shouted.

"Do you have sand between you're toes?" asked Jack. "'Cause I have sand between my toes!"

"That's cause you're silly, silly!" I hiccoughed. He laughed. I frowned at him, "I want more rum!"

"But you haven't finished that one," he pointed to the bottle in my hand. I squinted at it, but it wouldn't stay in focus. Was it the bottle I'd always had or was it a new one? Alarm bells rang dimly, how many had I had?

"No," I shook my head, "No, this is empty silly. Look!" I tipped the bottle upside down and watched the rum pour out. "Oh, well it's finished now."

"What a waste!" Jack huffed. "You're not allowed another one!"

"But we've got more -hic- more ones!" I pointed to the huge pile of bottles.

"Wow, yeah we do have a lot!" Jack stared at them. He swayed on the spot. "How many is that?"

"Hundreds."

"How many hundreds?"

"Hundreds of hundreds!" I said wisely.

"That's very much!" he said.

"Very, very much," I nodded in agreement. I swayed and fell over. Jack caught me, but overbalanced and we landed in a heap on the sand.

"Let's sing a song," he said. "'Lizabeth can join in too."

"No!" I said standing up and staggering off.

"Why?" he called after me.

"'Cause I'm going to be sick!" I said. And I was.

***

I stayed very still with my eyes shut tight. My head was throbbing. I was in so much pain I almost didn't smell the smoke. I opened my eyes. The light was so bright they burned. What the hell had happened? I sat up slowly. My eyes focused on Elizabeth who was throwing things on a fire.

She noticed me. "Isabel!" she said sending a spasm of pain through my brain. "You're finally awake."

"Stop shouting," I whispered my voice hoarse.

"I'm not," she replied. I groaned.

"What happened?" I asked. A loud snore drew my attention to the man lying next to me. Jack was lying a few inches away, his face turned towards me, his hand outstretched. "Oh God! We didn't…"

"You got drunk, were sick, and went for a swim in the sea, we sang songs before you fell asleep too, and, erm… you 'moonbathed', but I promise that was it."

"How do you moonbathe?" I asked. She shrugged. "I don't know, you were lying down, but you were very adamant that you were 'moonbathing'."

"I see," I said, "I don't remember any of that. I remember I was sick. Were you… I mean, did you…?"

"I didn't have half as much to drink as you did, but I was a little tipsy, yes," she said.

"Oh God!" I moaned, clutching my head and standing up.

"I have to say your dance was quite impressive," she smirked.

"Oh God, what dance?"

"Well, it was less of a dance, more of you waving your arms around like a lunatic, but it was very funny."

"Oh shut up!" I moaned. She laughed. "Don't laugh so loudly!" I complained. I finally focused on what she was doing. "Why are you burning the rum?"

"I'm making a signal so that we can escape thin godforsaken island," she paused. "And if it doesn't work do you really want to have another night like last night of another morning like this one?"

"Nope," I said moving to help her, my head throbbed on agreement.

It was quite good fun, throwing rum onto the fire. The smell and bits of ash floating around made it very uncomfortable, but the bang and explosion were quite good to watch. The smoke rose higher and higher into the air. I was aware that the dreaded moment where Jack woke up and discovered the fate of his beloved rum was inching ever nearer.

Sure enough the worried shout of, "What are you doing?" announced Jack was awake. He did not look happy, "You've burned the food, the shade… the **rum!**"

"Yes, the rum is gone!" Elizabeth threw one of the last remaining barrels on.

"But why is the rum gone?" Jack asked desperately. Elizabeth rounded on him.

"One, because it is a vile drink that turns even the most respectable men into complete scoundrels..."

_Or women,_ I thought sheepishly.

"Two," Elizabeth continued, "That signal is over a thousand feet high, the **entire **Royal Navy is out looking for us, do you really think there is a chance that they could miss it?"

"But why is the rum gone?" Jack repeated himself. He seemed to be in a state of shock. Elizabeth turned away from him and sat down.

"Give it one hour, maybe two," she told him, "keep a weather eye open and you will see white sails on that horizon."

Jack pulled out his gun, but thought better of it and put it away. He stormed off muttering to himself. Elizabeth sat there in silence for a few moments as I watched Jack walk away.

"Go after him, Izzy," she said, "he'll need calming down."

I grabbed the last bottle of rum and tore off after Jack. He had walked quite quickly and when I caught up with him he turned and screamed, "WELL IT BLOODY IS NOW!!" in my face. He looked at me, as startled as I was.

"Oh," he said. "I didn't know you were going to be there."

"Um, I brought you this," I held out the bottle of rum I'd saved. He picked me up and spun me round.

"You're an angle!" he said. "I might kiss you!"

That worried my slightly. "Please don't." I said, but my words were drowned by his laughter. He planted a kiss on my forehead and popped my back down on the sand. He took a swig of rum.

"You truly are the most amazing person I've ever met," he said, then he offered the bottle to me. "Want some?"

"No thanks."

"Are you sure? I didn't hear you objecting last night."

"I don't think James would be very happy if I repeated last night," I said.

"He's not here."

"Are you sure about that?" I nodded out to sea. The _Dauntless_ was approaching the island.

"Bloody hell," Jack muttered and took a longer swig of rum.


	16. Engagement

**Keiraliz: Yeah, I've never been drunk either (and I don't ever want to be cause it does look painful!)**

**Valor: Thank you! :D**

XX

* * *

"Do you have a ginger brother?" Jack asked me as I was helped aboard the _Dauntless_ by two sailors and he was hauled up roughly by another two.

"No, why?" I replied.

"Because that man in is waving at you and it looks like he knows you."

I looked around. If he was ginger, there was really only one person it could be. "George!" I shouted when I finally located him. He walked over and gave me a hug.

"Isabel," he smiled. "I've been so worried about you!"

I heard Jack give a snort of laughter. We looked at him. "She can look after herself," he scowled at George before glancing at me. "Can't you, love?"

George scowled back, "Don't you talk to her! It's the gallows for you, pirate. Come on Isabel."

He tried to lead me away. "No!" I said.

"What?" George looked at me as Jack laughed at him.

"Jack's not going to the gallows," I said firmly. "He's going free."

George stared at me. "Isabel, I fear you have sun-stoke. This man is a pirate and he tried to kidnap you."

I stared at him. Why was he being so patronising? I knew what had happened better than he did. "No George," I said slowly so he didn't misunderstand, "this man is a pirate and he saved my life. Twice."

"That's right, I did," Jack looked pleased with himself. George glared at him.

"I'm going to fetch some irons," he muttered, "I'll be back soon."

He walked off. "I don't like him," said Jack when George had gone.

"He's lovely, really," I defended my friend. "He just sees the pirate thing as a bit of a barrier, that's all."

"A bit like your brother, then," said Jack. "Except ginger." He looked thoughtfully at me. "Do me a favour, love and keep your relationship with him as just friends. If you end up married to someone like him I'd have to shoot myself, or better still; him."

"Isabel, what do you think you are doing?" James tones cut my reply short.

"Oh dear, time to face my brother," I muttered. I turned. He was striding across the deck towards me.

"James," I smiled at him. He stopped in front of me.

"Isabel Victoria Norrington! Do you have any idea how much you've out me through?" he shouted. I didn't know what to say. I bit my lip. Then he scooped me up into a tight hug, "Or how much I've missed you."

"I'm sorry, James." I said, hugging him back.

"I am so angry with you, but so glad you're safe! Now we have you and Miss Swann we can get you home, at last." He snapped back to being Commodore Norrington and turned to his crew, "Set sail for Port Royale."

"But what about Will?" Elizabeth sprang out of conversation with her concerned father.

"Elizabeth, we have no time to go gallivanting after pirates," said Governor Swann sternly.

"Then we condemn him to death!" she said.

"The boy's fate is regrettable, but so was his decision to engage in piracy," said James.

"To save me! To prevent anything from happening to me!" Elizabeth protested.

"If I may be so bold as to inject my professional opinion," Jack stepped forward. James glared at him, making it clear his opinion was not wanted. Jack gave him it anyway, "The _Pearl_ was badly damaged after the battle, and it's unlikely she would be able to withstand another one. Think about it, the last real pirate threat in the Caribbean, mate. How can you pass that up?"

"By remembering I serve others, Mr. Sparrow, not just myself," James replied curtly. He began to turn away and walk up the stairs to the upper deck.

Elizabeth stepped forward. "Commodore, I beg you, please do this for me," she took a deep breath, "As a wedding gift."

James stopped and turned. The look on his face nearly broke my heart. In a last, desperate attempt to save Will, Elizabeth had promised James the one thing he'd always wanted and bound herself to an unhappy marriage.

"Elizabeth?" he father looked overjoyed. "Are you accepting the Commodore's proposal?"

Elizabeth answered her father, but kept her eyes on James, "I am."

"A wedding! I love weddings!" Jack exclaimed. "Drinks all round!" James glowered at him. Jack held put his hands, "I know, clap him in irons, right? Although, the imbecile who went of to get them seems to be taking a long time, incompetent fool.

"Mr. Sparrow," James ignored Jacks comments, "you will accompany these fine men to the helm and provide us with the bearing to Isla de Meurta. You will then spend the rest of the voyage contemplating all possible meanings of the phrase 'silent as the grave'? Do I make myself clear?

"Inescapably clear," Jack replied.


	17. A Cunning Disguise

I hated not knowing what was happening. I didn't want to be left behind, but fighting my corner against James was hard. I just didn't expect to come up against any opposition from Jack. I didn't expect James to see why I should help, as it was hard for him to see past my gender, but Will was my friend and he was in trouble. I expected jack at least to understand.

"Isabel," James snapped. "You are not coming and that's **final**!"

"But-" I protested.

"_**No**_!" he walked away, signalling the end of the conversation. Jack approached me.

"You have to tell him I should come!" I said.

"No," was his blunt reply. I was almost speechless.

"What?" I managed to breathe out the word.

"It's for the best, love," he told me. I shook my head.

"Why does nobody think I can help?"

"I know you could, love," he told me. He took a deep breath, "But I don't want you to come."

"You **'don't want me to'**?" I stared at him.

"No, you need to stay where you're safe."  
"You sound like James!" I protested loudly. "You don't think I'm capable either!"

"Listen! I promised I'd get you home and I did," he snapped. "Leave this to me. Our story ends here, Isabel, and you can't come with me!"

He walked away. I said nothing. I watched him go and realized that there was a huge possibility I wouldn't see him again. In one sense this was good. It meant he wouldn't have to face the gallows and he would be free. But I would really miss him.

I could have told him that. I could have, but I was too proud. I could have thanked him one last time for his help, but I was still too angry with him; with everyone. This wouldn't be the last time I saw Jack and there wasn't much anyone could do about it.

***

Nobody paid that much attention to me. I got a few nods from sailors, but that was about it. I climbed aboard a dingy with Redcoats who barely gave me a second glance. I kept my head lowered, trying to hide my smile. I wished I'd had time to tell Elizabeth about this, it really was a stroke of genius.

My heart sank as James and Jack climbed aboard the dingy too. If anyone was going to recognise me, it would be one of those two. I kept my head down and avoided eye contact, but I needn't have worried. They were both too preoccupied to notice me. The boat pushed off and I silently congratulated myself.

I had stopped kicking up a fuss long enough to sneak into the store room and steal an excess uniform. I quite liked the tricorn hat, but the wig was a little itchy. It didn't really fit all that well as it had all my hair piled up under it, but the hat kept it in place. I'd never worn trousers and I was seldom without a corset, but once I'd gotten over the initial weirdness of it I actually quite like it.

I pulled my weight with rowing the boat towards the Isla de Meurta which was shrouded in darkness and fog. The moon was out, casting a silvery light over everything. We came to a stop, drifting along with several other dingys just of shore.

"I don't care for the situation," James said. "Any attempt to storm the cave could turn into an ambush."

"Not," Jack contradicted, "If you're the ones doing the ambushing." He put his hand on James's shoulder, "I'll go in there and convince Barbossa to send his men out in their little boats. You and your mates can return to the Dauntless and blast the Jesus out of them with your little cannons, eh? What do you have to loose?"

James looked at Jack with distaste and removed his hand, "Nothing I'd lament being rid of."

Jack hadn't mentioned the curse, but he'd probably lift the curse and then send out Barbossa's men. It was probably wise he hadn't told James about the curse; James would never have believed him, though Jack was insane and Will would have been left to die.

"Now, to be quite honest with you," Jack continued, undeterred, "there's still a slight risk to those aboard the _Dauntless_, which includes that lovely sister of yours and of course, the future Mrs Commodore."

James sighed and the corners of Jack mouth twisted in a smile. He knew he'd won. Our boat began to row back. It was just Jack going ashore; I could live with that. With any luck I'd be able to change back into my usual clothes without anyone noticing I was missing. We climbed back aboard the _Dauntless_ and another boat was lowered for Jack. He climbed in and began to row towards the Isla de Meurta on his own. He smiled to himself as he went. James watched him go with a growing amount of unease in his eyes.

"Gillette," he called. Gillette came running. I rolled my eyes; he was like James's personal dog! "Make sure Isabel and Miss Swann are locked safely in a cabin, but make sure it's separate ones, I don't want them plotting escape."

"Yes, sir," Gillette dashed off.

Oh dear. I would have to change quickly, but then James turned to us. "Everyone, back in the boats!" he ordered. I cursed inwardly as I was pushed back into the boat by one of the sailors. What was James doing? Why wasn't he sticking to the plan?

As the boat pushed of for the second time I realized it was all down to mistrust. I wanted to say something, speak up in Jack defence, but for obvious reasons, I couldn't. We sat in silence floating offshore. It scared me that we weren't doing what Jack had suggested. He knew Barbossa better than James did.

"What are we doing here?" Mr Murtogg whispered to his friend.

"The pirates come out, unprepared and unawares, we catch `em in the crossfire, send them down to see Old Hob." Mullroy smirked.

Murtogg sighed, "I know_ why_ we're here. I mean why aren't we doing what it was, what Mr. Sparrow said we should do, with the cannons and all?"

"Because it was Mr Sparrow who said it," James interrupted them.

"He knows what he's doing!" I snapped.

Every one turned to look at me.


	18. One Last Shot

**bmdrose- Thanks! :D  
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**ffffffff- Thank you!**

**Valor- Hope you enjoy this one! **

**Nelle07- I know she should learn to keep it shut!**

**keiraliz- I know lol! **

**Sparrpw'sWing21- Is she brave or just stupid? You're right about her having to stay put though. I'm glad you like it!  
**

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James stared at me, I'd been caught. He knew who I was; I could see it in his eyes. He reached over and lifted off my hat and wig in one motion. My hair tumbled out of where it had been concealed.

"Isabel!" he roared, standing up so suddenly he made the boat rock violently. I stood up too and before he could say anything I turned and dove into the sea. The sound of his shouting was muffled by the water as I swam away. It was freezing, but I was having such an adrenaline rush I barely noticed. I couldn't believe me own daring. I had just run away from my brother to join forces with a pirate. I'd done what I thought was right and this time I was determined not to regret it.

It was further to swim that I thought it was and I got tired half way through, but I press on until exhausted and bedraggled I dragged myself out of the water. I caught my breath before I made my way into the cave. There was no sound of fighting or argument as I drew nearer. There was an orange glow coming from the heart of the cave. I peered around one of the entrances into the cave. Everyone had their backs to me except from Barbossa and Jack who were standing on either side of the chest. Will stood between them with his hands tied. He was alive!

I stopped silently celebrating and paid attention to what Jack was saying. "You order your men to row over to the _Dauntless_ and they do what they do best," he grinned and the cave was full of laughter. I didn't understand. Had he already lifted the curse? "Bob's your uncle, Fannie's your aunt; there you are with two ships, the makings of your very own fleet. `Course you'll take the grandest as your flag ship and who's to argue, but what of the _Pearl_? Name me Captain and I'll sail under your colours, I'll give you ten percent of me plunder and you get to introduce yourself as 'Commodore' Barbossa. Savvy?"

What was he doing?

"I suppose in exchange you want me not to kill the whelp?" Barbossa sighed. Jack shook his head.

"No by all means kill the whelp," he said, my jaw dropped. I watched with growing fury as he put his hand into the chest and picked up several coins. As he spoke he threw them back in with a clink. "But wait to lift the curse until the opportune moment. For instance, once you've killed Norrington's men. Every-" _clink_ "-last-"_ clink _"one" _clink_. Each loud clink of metal hitting metal screamed betrayal.

"You've been planning this from the binning ever since you learnt my name!" Will spoke up as I stood frozen with shock and rage.

"Yeah," Jack nodded. Barbossa was looking thoughtful.

"I want fifty percent of your plunder."

"Fifteen," Jack countered. Blood rushing in my ears drowned out the sound of the two men bartering. Jack had condemned me, James, Elizabeth, Will and every other man aboard the _Dauntless_ to death in order to achieve his own ends. My hands were shaking I was so angry. My feet carried me forward without me realizing they were doing so. Jack's face filled with horror. I glared at him. I was screaming at him too without knowing I was. I had gone into a state of shock and so had most of the crew, I think. I don't think they were expecting to see me dressed as man burst into their gathering like this screaming and ranting at the top me voice for the entire world to her. I called Jack every name under the sun. Hot tears of betrayal burned my eyes as I stormed forward pushing the stunned pirates out of the way. I didn't let them spill out though. Will was frantically shaking his head at me, but I ignore him. I reached for my sword. I would fight every last one of these pirates or die trying. I'd start with Jack.

His round eyes were fixed on my face and his mouth silently formed the word 'Isabel'. Just as I began to unsheathe my sword I felt a heave blow to my head. Blood trickled into my eyes and the floor came rushing up to meet me. Then I remember nothing but blackness.

***

I don't know how long I was asleep, but when I woke up the cave was silent except form one person calling my name softly. A man's voice. I could feel dried blood on my forehead and taste it where it had trickled onto my lips. Someone was gently stroking my hair away from my face. With a huge effort I turned my head. Dark brown eyes stared back at me. Jack was kneeling by my side. His features lit up with relief.

"Go away!" I said as forcefully as I could.

"No," he shook his head. "Izzy, you don't understand. I'm still on your side. I need you to know that, love."

"You weren't on my side; you were going to kill me!" I said. "Me and everyone else aboard the _Dauntless_!"

"No, love, I wasn't, I swear," he said. "It'll make sense I promise. Barbossa's 'gents' are 'taking a walk' and I don't know where he's gone, but he'll be back soon. Lie still and trust me."

I looked at him. He had the same hatred in his eyes when talking about Barbossa and the desperation in his voice to make me understand was clear. I nodded. He smiled. I turned over to my original position and heard him walk away. I was lying inches from the water.

Minutes past and Barbossa came back in. I heard the sound of other feet following his.

"They're away," he announced.

"Right," Jack replied. There was a pause. I concentrated on lying still.

"I must admit, Jack," said Barbossa thoughtfully, "I thought I had you figured, but it turns out you're a hard man to predict."

"Me?" Jack replied. I could almost hear the smile in his voice. "I'm dishonest and you can always trust to be dishonest. Honestly. It's the honest ones you have to watch out for because you can never tell when they're going to do something incredibly… stupid."

There was a splash and the clang of swords. I turned around. Will was free and Jack was engaged in a fight with Barbossa and a few of his remaining men were advancing on Will. I drew my sword and ran to help him.

It was more a case of dodging blows than having a fair fight as they couldn't die. At some point during the fight I turned to see Jack stab Barbossa. I was fascinated by the lack of blood. Barbossa didn't even flinch. He sighed and pulled out the sword.

"You can't beat me, Jack," he said and pushed the sword through Jack's ribs. I screamed as Jack's eyes grew wide. He tried to choke out a few words as he staggered back wards in slow motion. I stood frozen, watching his body slowly fall backwards into the moonlight.

My tears were blurring my vision, so at first I didn't take in what was happening. As the moonlight touched his skin the flesh fell away and he turned to a skeleton. I could see where the sword was jammed between his ribs. He pulled something small and golden out of his pocket. It was a piece of the cursed treasure.

"Couldn't resist, mate," he said. He pulled out the sword and he and Barbossa started fighting again. I tingled with relief.

"Isabel!" Will shouted. I turned and only just managed to block a sword that was flying towards me. I fought him until we were standing in patch of moonlight. My sword caught one of the bones in his neck and his head came clean off. The skeleton got to its knees and tried to feel around for his head. I ran back over to where I was surprised to see that Elizabeth had joined the fight. She and Will had somehow managed to spear three skeletons to a pole. They lit a grenade into the middle one and pushed them all back into the shadows. There was a massive explosion and body parts flew everywhere.

Elizabeth and I turned and began to fight the pirate who had by now found his head and re-attached it. I lost track of where Will was and pretty soon I'd lost Elizabeth as well.

The sound of a gunshot cracking through the air stopped all the fighting in its tracks. At first when I turned to see what was going on I thought Barbossa had shot Elizabeth and my heart flew into my mouth, but then I saw Jack was also holding a gun. He had shot Barbossa.

"Ten years you carry that pistol and now you waste your shot," Barbossa sneered.

"He didn't waste it," said Will triumphantly. He was standing over the chest. He dropped two bloodstained medallions into the chest. One had his blood on it and the other had Jack's. The curse was lifted. It was too late for Barbossa. He pulled back his coat to reveal a wound from where the bullet had gone in. Dark red blood poured out of it and drenched his shirt.

"I feel," he said in amazement. Then his eyes became glassy as he looked up at us. His last word was whispered, "… cold."

His body became rigid and lifeless as he fell backwards onto the mound of gold. It was too late for the other pirates and they fell lifelessly to the ground. I knew that the cursed pirates James was fighting would meet the same fate.

Elizabeth and I hugged. We'd done it! We had defeated the pirates and made it out alive. As Will approached Elizabeth I looked over to Jack. The happiness I'd felt vanished. Now it was time to say goodbye. I had helped defeat a crew of pirates, escaped the wrath of my brother, suffered a hangover and stormed into a cave full of pirates, but I didn't know I was brave enough to do this. It was time to say goodbye to Jack.

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**That was the second last chapter people!**

**I'm getting quiet sad now it's almost over! :(**

**Thanks for reading!  
**


	19. A Bittersweet Ending

**Nelle07: Yeah, there is!**

**SaveroftheMoon: Aww, don't worry, lol!**

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**Valor: I have it planned! :D**

**Keiraliz: Yeah it probably was, that's why I didn't put it in lol!  
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**Ahhh! The last chapter! I'm so sad :(! But the good news is that I've decide to do the other films too! :DI have them all planned out (I haven't payed any attention in school for the last few days, I've been busy thinking about thin waayy too much, but whatever.)!Does anyone want me to E-mail you when DMC's up or are you happy jst checking for yourselves? I'll get it up ASAP. Don't worry, Izzy's coming back!**

**Thanks for all the reviewers and loyal readers. Love you all so very much!**

**Enough of my rambling... enjoy this chapter. It's the last.**

**XX  
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"Hello, love," Jack looked up as my shadow fell across him. He smiled, but it was a hollow, empty smile. Even though we'd won there was sadness in his eyes.

"Hey," I returned his smile with an equally fake one. It did become more genuine when I noticed he had draped himself in as many jewels as he could. He was even wearing a crown on top of his bandana.

"Nice crown," I commented. He smiled properly. He picked up another one and popped it on my head.

"Now we match," he said brightly. He looked thoughtfully at me, "It kind of takes away the effect if you're dressed as a man- why are you dressed as a man?"

"To get away from James," I said. It was the best I could offer as an explanation. He nodded.

"You know, love, there was no need for it. I had it under control," he said. I nodded. "Although, I am glad you came back."

"Well, screaming 'our story ends here Isabel in my face' and storming off is not a decent goodbye," I told him. He nodded. I looked to the ground. He wasn't saying anything. Had I made him feel awkward? That thought made me feel uncomfortable. I had never felt uncomfortable around him before. I began to panic. I kept my mouth clamped shut; the more panicked I get, the faster I tend to talk and I can't seem to control what I'm saying, things just blurt out.

He put his hand under my chin and gently tilted my face up to look at him. He was closer to me than I'd expected him to be. As our eyes met I felt his other hand lightly trace a line down the side of my face.

"Then lets say goodbye properly, darlin`" he murmured. I nodded silently, still not allowing myself to speak. His eyes were intense and the most serious I'd every seen him. As he looked at me I felt his hand stop its gentle progress down my face and he began playing with a lock of my hair. My heart hammered in my chest as he leaned closer. His breath tickled my face as he leaned in. I closed my eyes and leaned towards him.

There was a clang and my crown fell to the floor. We both jumped. The tension was broken and we smiled. I gulped. This wasn't a good idea.

"Maybe," I suggested, "maybe it would be best if we just left it with a hug."

"Maybe that would be best," he agreed. He pulled me into a tight hug. I wrapped my arms around him.

"Thank you," I whispered. Tears rolled down my cheeks. I let out a sob and he hugged me tighter to him. I clung to him wishing I didn't have to let go. I chocked out the word "Goodbye."

***

Each beat of the steady drums cut through me like a knife.

"I can't believe you're going through with this," I muttered. It was the first word I had spoken to James in ages.

"This is wrong," Elizabeth said in agreement.

"Commodore Norrington is bound by the law, as are we all," said Governor Swann.

Jack stood at the top of the gallows with his hands tied. His eyes were scanning the crowd. I wasn't sure if I could cope with it if they found me. His list of crimes were being read out he smiled at one of them. Then his wandering eyes met mine and the smile faded. His dark eyes stayed locked on mine. The extensive list finished, his sentence was read out and the noose was put around his neck.

I didn't want to be here. I didn't want to see this, but how could I not come? This was Jack's execution. If he ever needed anyone ever then this would be it. I couldn't not be here, no matter how much this upset me. I had to stay to the end; for Jack. I only looked away when I realized someone was talking.

"Elizabeth," Will was standing in front of us in a ridiculous hat with an overly large feather sticking out the top of it. Even in the circumstances it made me smile. "I should have told you every day from the moment I met you… I love you."

He turned and walked through the crowd before Elizabeth could say anything. Governor Swann and James looked at her. Ordinarily, I would have spent the entire time worrying about Elizabeth's reply, but today my mind had more important things to worry about. My eyes followed Will as he pushed through the crowd towards the gallows. He drew his sword. The executioner reached for the lever.

"I can't breathe!" I heard Elizabeth gasp. She fell backwards. James and Governor Swann looked at her, concerned. As James bent down to see if she was alright and the hangman's hand began to close on the lever. I grabbed James's sword form its sheath and charged forward. The crowd who were by now in total confusion parted for me. The doors opened with a clang, but Jack didn't fall through. His neck didn't snap and he didn't choke to death. Will had got there on time and jammed his sword into the side of the gallows. Jack balanced there.

Will pulled out another sword and we both ran onto the gallows. The guards there were baffled when they realized who I was and I took advantage of their hesitation to cut Jack free. I heard him fall to the ground and smiled. He was safe and he was alive. This time the guards took advantage of my hesitation and grabbed me, knocking James's sword from my hands. They pulled my back, away from the fight and away from Jack. I struggled against them, but there were two of them and they were both really strong. James appeared for a moment as his troops assembled.

"I'll deal with you when we get home," he snarled, spit flying from his mouth. I flinched, but regretted nothing. He looked to the two standing either side of me. "Keep an eye on her."

Will and Jack had by now fought their way through line after line of James's men to the top of the fort where Jack could make his escape. Redcoats swarmed in, closing in a tight circle around them. I couldn't see what was going on. I watched James and Governor Swann push their way through. I looked to the guards either side of me; they seemed distracted. I elbowed the one on my right in the stomach and he doubled over. I wriggled free of the other one and my foot connected with his shin. They called out, but I ran forward and pushed my way through. All bayonets were trained on Jack and Will.

"On our return to Port Royale I granted you clemency and this is how you repay me? By throwing your lot in with him? He's a pirate!" Governor Swann stared at Will in disgust.

"And a good man," I stepped forward. Will and I had spoken the same words at the same time. James's face was full of rage, but he glanced anxiously at the bayonets that were now aimed at me.

"If all I have achieved here is that the hangman will earn two-"

"Three," I corrected him under my breath.

"Three," he continued, slightly annoyed, "pairs of boots instead of one then at least my conscience will be clear."

"You forget you're place, Turner," James glared at him. Then Will said the noblest thing I'd ever heard him say.

"It's right here; between you and Jack."

"As is mine," Elizabeth stepped forward and took her place beside Will. Any resentment I felt towards James vanished in that split second. The pain in his eyes was painful to see. Governor Swann shouted for the weapons to be lowered and they were. I don't think James even noticed.

"So this is where your heart truly lies then?" he asked her.

"It is," she replied softly, but the tone of her voice didn't soften the blow.

"Well," said Jack cheerfully. "I'm actually feeling rather good about this. I think we've all arrived in a very special place, eh?" He ginned at Governor Swann who winced away from him. Spiritually, ecumenically, grammatically." He looked at James, "I want you to know that I was rooting for you, mate. Know that. And look after that sister of yours, she's a gem." He began to walk away. "Elizabeth," he stopped and turned. She looked to him from where she had been gazing into Will's eyes. "It would never have worked out between us, darling. I'm sorry. Will-" he paused, "nice hat." Will smiled. Jack turned his gaze on me and his charming smile faltered. I nodded, letting him know it was alright. He didn't have to say anything. We'd said our goodbyes. He fixed his smile back on and ran up the steps. "Friends!" he addressed us all. "This is the day you will always remember as the day that-"

He had been backing away and he tripped and went flying over the edge and into the sea. My heart in my mouth, I ran to see where he had fallen.

"Fool," Gillette sneered as Jack's head broke the surface. "He's got nowhere left to go but back to the noose."

Just then, as if to prove him wrong the _Black Pearl_ came sailing into the harbour to pick up her Captain.

Gillette looked to James, "What's your plan of action, sir?"

"Perhaps," Governor Swann spoke after James did not reply, "on the rare occasion pursuing the right course demands an act of piracy, piracy itself can be the right course?"

James did not reply. "Mr Turner," he said sharply.

Will turned. Elizabeth made a noise of protest. "I will accept the consequences of my actions" he told her.

"This is a beautiful sword," said James taking out the sword Will had made. "I would expect the man who made it to show the same care and devotion in every aspect of his life."

"Thank you," Will said. I sighed. James was acting brave, but I knew this would be hurting him.

"Commodore!" Gillette wouldn't let the matter of Jack rest. "What about Sparrow?"

"Well," James's eyes moved to mine, "I think we can afford to give him _one _day's head start."

I beamed at him. He nodded and left, taking his troops with him.

"Is this the path you've chose then?" Governor Swann asked his daughter. "After all, he is a blacksmith."

"No," Elizabeth murmured, "He's a pirate."

I was aware of them kissing, but my eyes were on the _Pearl_. I wanted more that anything to follow Jack and sail alongside him on his ship, but I knew I never could. Our worlds were too different to ever co-exist for a definite period of time. My place was in Port Royale, even if it didn't feel as mach like home anymore. I hadn't noticed that there was anything missing in my life until I'd met Jack. He'd filled a gap I hadn't even know was there and after he left something was missing. A huge Jack-shaped space in my life.

Jack, Will and Elizabeth had their happy endings. Jack had the _Pearl_ and Will and Elizabeth had each other. But what about James and I? He was a broken man. He left one night without as much as a goodbye and my world was shattered completely. He left to pursue Jack; a fight which I knew would result in the death of one of them. And I was left with nothing. No James. No Jack. No happy ending. Just the feeling that I would never, ever quite be whole again.

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**THE END**


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